Monoclonal antibodies in investigations on astrocytes.

Abstract

The impact of a new concept or a new technological advance usually results in accelerated pace in the application of the newly acquired concept or technique that produces advances of knowledge in the field. In cell biology in general, the repercussions in cell research have been spectacular following Abbé’s theory of image formation and following development of commercial transmission electron microscopes. These advances in microscopy have had parallel advances in preparative techniques suitable for examination of biological specimens by light microscopy and electron microscopy (Palade, 1967). Such advances in microscopy coupled with coincidental advances in biochemical and biophysical approaches for cell research have been instrumental in bringing our knowledge of the cell to its current phenomenal level. The functioning of cell organelles and of cells themselves, their interactions with other cells and with matrix of tissues are determined by the molecular architecture. Toward this end, hybridoma technology and consequently the ability to generate monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) (Köhler and Milstein, 1975) have provided cell biologists with means, hitherto unavailable to them, to probe the uniqueness of cells and tissues and map the distribution of their antigenic components. Monoclonal antibodies enable us to study functional homologies in cells and tissues between diverse species. They enable us to detect sparsely distributed and unknown antigens that could not be discovered by routine biochemical techniques.KeywordsGlial Fibrillary Acidic ProteinMyelin Basic ProteinIntermediate FilamentNuclear LaminaMature AstrocyteThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.