Effects of lipid-specific antibodies (sulphatide, O4) on dissociated myelinating cultures

Analysis of the effects of sulphatide specific antibody (O4, 20microg/ml) on myelinating cultures generated from dissociated embryonic rat spinal cord after 24 hours treatment to give insights into effects of lipid-specific antibodies and its implication in demyelinating diseases. Dissociated myelinating cultures were generated from neurosphere derived astrocytes (generated from striata of P1 Sprague-Dawley rats) and spinal cord cells from E15.5 Sprague-Dawley(SD) embryos. The effect of O4 (anti sulphatide, 20microg/ml) antibody in the presence or absence of 2% rabbit serum as a source of complement on these in vitro myelinating cultures was investigated by adding O4 (with or without serum), serum only or IgM isotype control to the culture media after 24 days in vitro (DIV). The effects of each factor were analysed using three independent cultures treated for 24hrs.