The demyelinating potential of antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein is related to their ability to fix complement.

A panel of 13 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has been raised to the central nervous system-specific glycoprotein, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein; five of these mAbs recognize a carbohydrate epitope on the molecule. Although all of the mAbs recognized surface epitopes on cultured oligodendrocytes and stained central nervous system tissue sections in a similar manner, marked differences were seen in their ability to induce demyelination in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in the Lewis rat. This variation in pathogenic potential was not related to the specificity of a given mAb for carbohydrate or peptide epitopes of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, but correlated with its ability to fix complement.