Immunoselection of oligodendrocytes by magnetic beads. I. Determination of antibody coupling parameters and cell binding conditions

Oligodendrocytes from early postnatal mouse cerebellum were isolated using polyacrylamide‐coated magnetic beads carrying monoclonal antibody to 04 cell surface antigen. Oligodendrocytes were enriched to a purity of 91 ± 4% starting from a mixed cell population containing approximately 1.5% antigen‐positive oligodendrocytes. Viability of 04 antigen‐positive oligodendrocytes was approximately 90% as judged by exclusion of trypan blue. Oligodendrocytes were recovered after detachment from the beads with a yield of 19 ± 6% and after collection by centrifugation onto glass coverslips with yields of approximately 6% of all 04 antigen‐positive cells. The final cell yield of oligodendrocytes is approximately 8 × 10 5 cells/gram fresh cerebellar tissue.