Antibody Formation

Abstract

Quantitative studies of antibody formation in experimental animals have been facilitated by the use of labeled proteins (1, 2). After equilibration following intravenous injection, labeled antigen is eliminated from the circulation in two exponential phases: the first and slower rate is due to non-immune catabolism; the second and rapid decline is caused by the production and release into the circulation of specific antibody (3, 4).In this study, guinea pigs have been injected with relatively minute amounts of a small bacteriophage, 4~X 174, which has been traced in the circulation utilizing the plaque-forming capacity of the virus. With this method it has been possible to detect an immune elimination as early as 24 hours after injection. The early detection of antibody was facilitated by the small amounts of antigen employed. It has also been shown that there is a close resemblance between the kinetics of the primary and secondary antibody response to this bacteriophage. Materials and MethodsPhage.--Str~J.us of ~bX 174 and T2 were kindly supplied to us by Dr. E. Lennox. ~bX was grown in Escherickia coli strain C in glycerol-easamino acid medium (5). The lysed culture was centrifuged at low speed to remove cell debris. Purification was then accomplished by precipitation with ammonium sulfate, passage through a DEAE cellulose anion exchange column, and elution with 0.1 M ammonium acetate (6). This purified stock containing 10 n plaque-forming particles per ml was kept at 4°C in ammonium acetate buffer pH 7.4 conraining 0.01 per cent gelatin. Dilutions of this stock were used for almost all the immunization experiments.

Suppression of Memory by Passive Immunization Late in the Primary Response

“…Distinctions between primary and secondary responses are sometimes muddied but can often be drawn with respect to parameters such as rapidity, magnitude and antigen sensitivity, class and combining affinity of immunoglobulin produced, sequence of immunoglobulin production, effect of adjuvants, and susceptibility to a variety of suppressants including antibody to the antigen, anti-lymphocyte antibody, and X-irradiation (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). The ability to mount a secondary response may be ascribed to immunological memory.…”

Gamma Globulin and Antibody Formation in Vitro

“…Antibody production and immature plasma cell proliferation in the red pulp of the spleen also diminish later in the primary response (day 7) (1) than in the secondary (day 4), when the booster injection is given 10 days after the primary injection. There is, thus, an apparent difference between the response to a simple protein antigen, as used here, and to bacteriophage antigens, since it has recently been shown (26) that rates of antibody production in primary and secondary response to a bacteriophage antigen are quite similar. An interesting aspect of the differences between primary and secondary responses is that the antibody formed in the primary response, both to bacteriophage (26) and to other antigens (27,28), is 19S gamma globulin, while in the secondary it is 7S gamma globulin.…”

Factors Modifying Host Resistance to Viral Infection

“…Many viruses appear to be cleared from the serum of noDimmune mice by the reticuloendothelial system (8). Specific antibody has been shown to enhance the rate of clearance of infective virus particles from the blood (9,10). That noDimmune clearance mechanisms can be altered has been demonstrated by Brunner et al (11) who showed that an intravenous injection of thorotrast decreases the clearance of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in nonimmune mice.…”