The Molecular Weight of Antibodies

Heidelberger, Michael; Pedersen, Kai O.

doi:10.1084/jem.65.3.393

Cited by 142 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Thus the sedimentation constant of S = 19 corresponds to the component with a molecular weight of about 990,000, whereas the lower sedimentation constant of S = 8.7 may be identified as the component with a molecular weight of about 170,000. It is of interest to note that upon dilution the relative amount of the heavy component increases, as was previously noted by Heidelberger and Pedersen (28).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 59%

Immunochemical Properties of Native and Denatured Horse Serum Globulins

Erickson

Neurath

1945

Journal of General Physiology

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The problem of the relation of antibodies to normal serum globulins has been approached in the past by comparison of their chemical, physical, and immunological properties in the native state (cf. 1-3). Little information is available, however, on their relative behavior in the denatured state. This paper describes an investigation of the effects of denaturation by guanidine hydrochloride on certain physicochemical and immunological properties of Type I antipneumococcal horse serum globulin. In the fight of recent theories of the structure and synthesis of antibodies (4, 5) it appeared also of interest to determine whether denaturation of normal and immune globulin might accentuate or diminish the antigenic relations which exist between them in the native form.Comparative physicochemical properties of normal and immune serum globulins have been reviewed by Kabat (3). Wright (6) has reported that the antigenic nature of horse antibody proteins is essentially the same as that of horse normal gamma globulin. However, quantitative investigations by Treffers et al. (7)(8)(9) based on earlier findings of Ando et al. (10), and Marrack and Duff (11), revealed that antipneumococeal horse serum globulin differs from normal gamma globulin in its reaction with an antispecific precipitate rabbit serum. A high degree of cross-reactivity existed, and it was further noted that those antibodies that were precipitated by either antigen were incapable of differentiating between the two. These investigations provided experimental proof for earlier suggestions (12) that the groups on the antibody molecule responsible for antibody activity are unrelated to those involved in antigenic specificity.Previous work on the effects of denaturation on the serological and physicochemical behavior of immune globulins has been extensively reviewed (1,13,14). The observation that monolayers of Types i and III antipneumococcal rabbit globulin are serologic.ally active (15), suggests the independence of serological activity of a unique stereochemical configuration. However, in the light of a recent hypothesis (16) that formation of protein films involves the separation of preformed layers of peptide chains rather than unfolding into individual chains, a functional relation between intact two dimensional configurations and antibody activity is not excluded.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 59%

Immunochemical Properties of Native and Denatured Horse Serum Globulins

Erickson

Neurath

1945

Journal of General Physiology

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“…Since data are available on the molecular weights of thyroglobulin (3) and at least a limited number of antibodies formed in the rabbit (20) it is possible to calculate the empirical composition of the specific precipitate at certain limiting points or regions of the reaction range. In the region of extreme antibody excess, as in the serial experiments (Table VI) ratios of antibody N to Tg N (or antibody to Tg) as high as 12.9 were encountered.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Quantitative Theory of the Precipitin Reaction

Stokinger

Heidelberger

1937

Journal of Experimental Medicine

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Investigations on the mechanism of thyroid action have emphasized the importance of thyroxine, a crystalline degradation product of the protein, thyroglobulin, which appears to be the actual thyroid hormone. Only limited information is available on the chemical and physical properties of thyroglobulin, on the interrelationships of the thyroglobulins of various animal species, and on the immunological properties of the protein and antisera produced by its injection. Hektoen and his collaborators (1) have made a qualitative comparison and found a greater serological relationship between the mammalian thyroglobulins than between the thyroglobulins of mammals and chickens. On the other hand, absorption experiments revealed distinct differences between certain of the mammalian thyroglobulins. Since a deeper insight into these similarities and disparities might assist in an understanding of the nature of organ specificity it was felt that further study of the problem was warranted, especially since new and more sensitive quantitative methods have become available since the earlier work.

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“…The Action of Horse Serum upon the Pulmonary Lesion.-The antibody contained in antipneumococcal horse serum is known to be of larger molecular size than the corresponding rabbit antibody (25,26). It has been suggested that the antibody of rabbit serum may be able to penetrate tissues more readily (27) and may, therefore, be more effective as a therapeutic agent.…”

Section: Zone Of Early Consolidation Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studies on the Mechanism of Recovery in Pneumococcal Pneumonia

1941

Journal of Experimental Medicine

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A uniformly fatal lobar pneumonia was produced in white rats by inoculation of the left main bronchus with virulent Type I pneumococci suspended in mucin. All of the animals succumbed in less than 5 days, half of them dying within 48 hours. In only 5 of 40 rats was the lesion confined to the left lung, and all but one developed pleurisy, pericarditis, or both. All had bacteriemia at the time of death. The pathogenesis of the pulmonary lesion was studied by examining the lungs of 35 rats killed at various intervals following inoculation. The pneumonic process spread rapidly until most of the left lung was involved in 36 hours. Frequent blood cultures showed invasion of the blood stream in a few rats at 6 hours and in over 90 per cent at the end of the first day. The first signs of pleurisy usually appeared at 18 hours. Microscopic examination of the actively spreading lesion revealed three characteristic zones: (1) an outer "edema zone" in which the alveoli contained many pneumococci floating freely in edema fluid, (2) a middle zone where both leucocytes and organisms were present, many of the latter being phagocytized, and (3) an inner zone of advanced consolidation in which the alveoli contained many leucocytes but no organisms and where there were already local areas of early resolution. Study of numerous lesions, at intervals of from 12 to 36 hours after inoculation, indicated that the pneumococci spread into normal alveoli principally by way of the infected edema fluid in the outer zone. Pneumococcus-laden edema fluid in large bronchi and in alveoli beneath the pleura suggested the mode of spread of the infection to other lobes and possibly to the pleural cavity. No adequate explanation could be found for the presence of active phagocytosis in the lungs of animals with bacteriemia and presumably without circulating antibodies, but this conspicuous phagocytic reaction was obviously responsible for the clearing of the central part of the spreading lesion. The action of type specific antibody upon the pulmonary lesion of experimental lobar pneumonia was studied in rats similarly infected but treated with antipneumococcal serum. When injected intravenously in a single dose within 18 hours after inoculation the antiserum was found to protect all of the rats against the otherwise fatal pneumonia. It stopped the spread of the pneumonic lesion, cleared the blood stream of organisms, and prevented the extension of early pleurisy. The antibody caused agglutination and capsular swelling of the pneumococci in the lung, particularly in the edema zone at the margin of the lesion where they were most numerous. Apparently immobilized by agglutination the organisms were overtaken by leucocytes and destroyed by phagocytosis. The phagocytic reaction was greatly accelerated by the specific opsonins of the antiserum, and the pneumococci were destroyed by polymorphonuclear leucocytes before many macrophages appeared in the alveolar exudate. Within a week after treatment resolution of the pulmonary lesion was well in progress. Both horse and rabbit antibody were shown to penetrate the lung, and immune bodies were demonstrated in the alveoli within 10 minutes after the start of treatment. The relation of the observed phenomena to the curative action of anti-pneumococcal serum has been briefly discussed, and it is pointed out that the principal effect of antiserum is to cause immobilization of the pneumococci in the advancing edema zone. Experiments to be reported in a later publication have shown that sulfapyridine exerts a similar effect through a different mechanism.

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The Molecular Weight of Antibodies

Cited by 142 publications

References 9 publications

Immunochemical Properties of Native and Denatured Horse Serum Globulins

Immunochemical Properties of Native and Denatured Horse Serum Globulins

A Quantitative Theory of the Precipitin Reaction

Studies on the Mechanism of Recovery in Pneumococcal Pneumonia

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