Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 June 2009
This paper describes changes in the appearance and distribution of microglia in postnatal cat retina as demonstrated by a new antibody, H386F. This fractionated IgM antibody was created via an intrasplenic immunization of a single BALB/C mouse with about 2–3 × 105 large, whole cells isolated from 46 minced cat retinae. To confirm that the labeled cells are microglia, the staining properties of H386F were compared with those of four commercially available antibodies, OX-33, OX-41, OX-42, and ED-1, that have been used by others to distinguish between microglia and other cells in rat brain. These experiments show that H386F is the only antibody of the five to label only microglia in both the cat retina and hippocampus.