Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies to the myelin glycolipid sulfatide.

Sulfatide is enriched in the myelin sheath and accounts for 5% of the total lipids in this membrane. In the present work we describe the production and characterization of mouse monoclonal antibodies against sulfatide. The antibodies were detected and characterized in a previously described ELISA test system. The clone AIC3IA2 produced antibodies of the IgG3 class with high specificity for sulfatide. These antibodies showed almost no cross-reactivity with galactocerebroside or with any of the other lipids we tested. When used with the peroxidase antiperoxidase technique the antibodies stained a cell population either in fixed or unfixed brain cell cultures, indicating a surface localization of sulfatide in the respective cell population. In double-staining experiments the stained cell population was identified as myelin basic protein-positive oligodendrocytes.