Specific glycoprotein changes during development of the chick neural retina.

After separation of whole proteins of chick neural retina by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), a number of glycoproteins can be detected by staining the gels with 125I-labeled wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and other lectins. The glycoprotein patterns show both quantitative and qualitative changes between days 7 and 13 of development. Some of these glycoproteins can be separated by chromatography on columns of insolubilized lectins. These observations suggest that purification of some of these glycoproteins identified by staining with radioactive lectins would yield retinal antigens which may be specific for developmental stage and cell type.