A monoclonal antibody recognising a surface marker on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) monocytes.

The characterisation of a monoclonal antibody (mab 45) reacting with phagocytic leucocytes isolated from blood and spleen of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum) is described. The surface marker labelled by this mab is expressed at relative low levels on the membrane of large, nearly nongranulated trout leucocytes, and having the typical morphology of monocytes in flow cytometry (Kfoury et al., 1999, Fish Pathology, 34, 1-6). No reaction of mab 45 with granulocytes, lymphocytes or thrombocytes was detected. In spleen and head kidney, large, polymorphonuclear leucocytes were immunostained. The mab most strongly recognised an antigen of 48 kDa prepared from trout leucocytes of different organs, but not in trout plasma. In an in vitro phagocytosis assay trout monocytes were stained with mab 45 after phagocytosis of Aeromonas salmonicida labelled with the lipophilic fluorescent cell surface linker PKH26. However, previous binding of mab 45 on trout leucocytes did not inhibit the phagocytosis of A. salmonicida particles. Using mab 45, the dynamics of monocytes in blood, spleen and peritoneal cavity could be demonstrated after intraperitoneal injection of trout with inactivated A. salmonicida. The described mab serves as a useful tool to investigate the involvement of monocytes/macrophages in immune reactions of trout to a variety of pathogens.

Wisteria floribunda agglutinin labeling patterns in the human cortex: a tool for revealing areal borders and subdivisions in parallel with immunocytochemistry.

Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) is a lectin that labels selectively N-acetylgalactosamines beta 1 (GalNAc beta 1-3 Gal) residues of glycoproteins within the extracellular matrix of the neurons, and has been identified as a specific marker for functionally different cortical areas of the rodent brain. Here we report that WFA-binding sites can be used for the characterization of cortical areas and their subdivisions of the immersion-fixed human brain. WFA-binding showed an area-specific distribution pattern within areas 1, and 3a-3b of the somatosensory cortex as well as in the primary motor areas 4a-4p. The WFA-binding labeled stripes of 150-175 microm width at intervals of 800-1000 microm within the motor cortex but not in the somatosensory cortex. At the cellular level, differences in staining intensities among certain cell types were evident among WFA-positive glial cells. WFA binding seems to be a useful marker to reveal areal borders and function related intraareal specializations in combination with immunocytochemical techniques.

Histological visualization of long fiber tracts in the white matter of adult human brains.

The position and extent of fiber pathways and their intersubject variability in the white matter of the forebrain have not been analyzed with histological techniques in the adult human brain. This is due mainly to the lack of a staining procedure with which the different fiber tracts can be visualized with sufficient contrast. The here described modification of the Heidenhain-Woelcke myelin stain yields increased contrast between heavily and less heavily myelinated pathways, facilitating identification and tracing of single fiber tracts. The modification makes the microscopical resolution possible which is necessary for preparing comprehensive maps of fiber tracts. Such maps are valuable tools for clinical diagnosis, since they provide a basis for localizing anatomically the structures involved in subcortical lesions. Correlations between the size of a lesion and its location relative to identified fiber tracts on the one hand and postlesional functional alterations and recovery on the other can only be made on the basis of topographic and morphometric maps of these structures in the normal adult human brain.