Transient expression of a chondroitin sulfate-related epitope during cartilage histomorphogenesis in the axial skeleton of fetal rats.

A monoclonal antibody (MC21C), raised in mouse in response to a mixture of bone proteins, was found to exhibit a unique reactivity toward native chondroitin sulfate chains. Indirect immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase assays were performed on tissue sections at different stages of fetal rat development, in order to investigate the distribution of the MC21C epitope during cartilage morphogenesis and differentiation. This extracellular marker was present in the sclerotome and its distribution subsequently followed the segmentation pattern of the precartilaginous vertebral column. In addition, changes in the MC21C-immunostaining pattern strongly correlated with the initial growth of the vertebrae. In the axial skeleton (spinal column, basis cranii), the immunostaining by MC21C was maximum in precartilaginous condensations and then rapidly disappeared during the process of chondrification. Also, the perinotochordal matrix was intensely immunostained.