Related Experiment Videos
Presence of antigen-antibody complexes in antiallogeneic and antixenogeneic sera
Antilymphocyte sera (ALS), either allogeneic (for example, Lewis anti-August rat serum) or xenogeneic (the classic ALS), may retain the antigen used for the immunization of the animal producing the serum in the form of antigen-antibody complexes, at least when the animal is bled within the first 2 weeks following the last immunizing injection. Evidence for this has been obtained in vivo and in vitro. In vivo experiments showed that injection of Lewis anti-August serum to a normal Lewis rat can induce a delayed active immunization against the August strain. In vitro studies proved the presence of August antigens in the anti-August sera, by precipitation of the antigen-antibody complexes with 6 M urea, removal of the antibody by filtration, and demonstration that the filtrate specifically inhibits complement-dependent cytotoxicity of anti-August antibodies. The interpretation of a number of previous works on so-called passive enhancement of grafts or on various effects of ALS may have to be reconsidered on the basis of these findings.
Antilymphocyte sera (ALS), either allogeneic (for example, Lewis anti-August rat serum) or xenogeneic (the classic ALS), may retain the antigen used for the immunization of the animal producing the serum in the form of antigen-antibody complexes, at least when the animal is bled within the first 2 weeks following the last immunizing injection. Evidence for this has been obtained in vivo and in vitro. In vivo experiments showed that injection of Lewis anti-August serum to a normal Lewis rat can induce a delayed active immunization against the August strain. In vitro studies proved the presence of August antigens in the anti-August sera, by precipitation of the antigen-antibody complexes with 6 M urea, removal of the antibody by filtration, and demonstration that the filtrate specifically inhibits complement-dependent cytotoxicity of anti-August antibodies. The interpretation of a number of previous works on so-called passive enhancement of grafts or on various effects of ALS may have to be reconsidered on the basis of these findings.