Identification and immunocytochemical localization of a human adult brain-specific antigen (HABSA).

A new protein with a molecular weight of 669,000, identified in brain extracts from 4 to 69 years old subjects has been isolated and immunochemically characterized. The antigen is found in human adult brain but not in the brains of human fetuses and newborn infants or in the brains of several other species tested. Immunocytochemically, using the PAP method, the antigen is localized at the surface of some nerve cells and on astrocytes and oligodendrocytes of the cerebral cortex, corpus striatum, pons and medulla. The Golgi epithelial cells with Bergmann's fibers, and the velate and ordinary astrocytes in the cerebellum show immunoreactivity as well.