scholarly journals DEFICIENCY OF THE SIXTH COMPONENT OF COMPLEMENT IN RABBITS WITH AN INHERITED COMPLEMENT DEFECT

1966 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Rother ◽  
Ursula Rother ◽  
Hans J. Müller-Eberhard ◽  
Ulf R. Nilsson

A strain of rabbits with an inherited complement deficiency was shown to lack the sixth component of the hemolytic complement system. A method was elaborated for the partial purification of this component from normal rabbit serum. Upon injection of partially purified rabbit C'6 into C'6-deficient animals, an antibody was obtained which specifically inhibited the hemolytic activity of C'6. The data suggest that C'6-deficient serum either lacks the C'6 molecule or contains it in a chemically modified and inactive form.

Parasitology ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Rickard ◽  
J. C. Katiyar

SummaryLarvae of Taenia pisiformis were cultured in vitro in medium containing 2·5, 5 or 20% (v/v) of normal rabbit serum (NRS). Greatest development occurred in 20% NRS, and the potency of antigens collected in medium from each culture tested by intradermal (i/d) skin tests in infected rabbits paralleled the in vitro growth rate of larvae. ‘Culture’ antigens from 5% NRS stimulated good immunity in rabbits to a challenge infection with T. pisiformis eggs, although they were poorly reactive in skin tests.T. pisiformis larvae were also cultured in 10% (v/v) of nitrates of serum reduced to one-half of its volume by passage through 300 000 MW cut oif (XM300F) or 100000 MW cut off (XM100F) ultrafiltration membranes. Larvae cultured using XM300F had growth rates comparable with those cultured in 20% NRS, and the antigens released into the culture medium had equal potency in i/d tests and in stimulating protective immunity in rabbits. Larvae did not develop in XM100F orproduce skin-reactive or protective antigens.Crude ‘culture’ antigen from cultures in 20% NRS was separated into 4 fractions by nitration on Sephadex G200. All of these fractions gave i/d skin reactions in infected rabbits. Fraction 3 (F3) was the most active, but was shown by acrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoelectrophoresis to be highly contaminated with rabbit serum proteins. F3 was separated into fractions on DEAE-Sephadex A50, and the third fraction from this was as active as the original culture medium in i/d skin tests, but had only 5% of the original protein concentration. Electrophoresis demonstrated few serum contaminants, and 2 indistinct protein bands that were not present in a similar fraction of NRS.Neither Sephadex G200 F3 nor DEAE-Sephadex F3 stimulated protective immunity in rabbits, suggesting that antigens stimulating immunity against the establishment of T. pisiformis in rabbits and those provoking cell-mediated immune reactions may be different.


1980 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 1040-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
S J Norris ◽  
J N Miller ◽  
J A Sykes

Treponema pallidum (Nichols strain), extracted in medium containing Eagle minimal essential medium 50% fresh, heat-inactivated normal rabbit serum, and 1.0 mM dithiothreitol, was incubated under 3% oxygen in the presence of tritiated nucleic acid precursors. [8-3H]adenine was incorporated with high efficiency into trichloroacetic acid-insoluble material; 2'-deoxyadenosine and uridine were incorporated in lower quantities, and thymine and thymidine were not incorporated. Incorporation of [3H]adenine was inhibited by penicillin G, mitomycin C, actinomycin D, and erythromycin, but was not affected by cycloheximide. Partial purification of nucleic acids from T. pallidum incubated with [8-3H]adenine for 36 to 72 h and subsequent treatment with ribonuclease and deoxyribonuclease revealed that 15 to 20% of the trichloroacetic acid-precipitable counts were resistant to ribonuclease but susceptible to deoxyribonuclease. A simple assay was developed in which NaOH treatment was used to distinguish incorporation into ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid. Both ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis continued for 6 days of incubation under 3% O2, whereas incorporation was limited to the first day of incubation in samples incubated under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. T. pallidum thus appears to be capable of significant de novo deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid synthesis under microaerobic conditions.


Author(s):  
O. E. Bradfute

Maize rayado fino virus (MRFV) causes a severe disease of corn (Zea mays) in many locations throughout the neotropics and as far north as southern U.S. MRFV particles detected by direct electron microscopy of negatively stained sap from infected leaves are not necessarily distinguishable from many other small isometric viruses infecting plants (Fig. 1).Immunosorbent trapping of virus particles on antibody-coated grids and the antibody coating or decoration of trapped virus particles, was used to confirm the identification of MRFV. Antiserum to MRFV was supplied by R. Gamez (Centro de Investigacion en Biologia Celular y Molecular, Universidad de Costa Rica, Ciudad Universitaria, Costa Rica).Virus particles, appearing as a continuous lawn, were trapped on grids coated with MRFV antiserum (Fig. 2-4). In contrast, virus particles were infrequently found on grids not exposed to antiserum or grids coated with normal rabbit serum (similar to Fig. 1). In Fig. 3, the appearance of the virus particles (isometric morphology, 30 nm diameter, stain penetration of some particles, and morphological subunits in other particles) is characteristic of negatively stained MRFV particles. Decoration or coating of these particles with MRFV antiserum confirms their identification as MRFV (Fig. 4).


1986 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 570-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Firyal S. Khan-Dawood

Abstract. Immunoreactive oxytocin is detectable in the corpora lutea of women and cynomolgus monkeys by radioimmunoassay. To localize the presence of oxytocin and neurophysin I in ovarian tissues of subhuman primates, three corpora lutea and ovarian stromal tissues and two Fallopian tubes obtained during the menstrual cycle of the baboon and decidua from two pregnant baboons were examined using highly specific antisera against either oxytocin or neurophysin I and preoxidase-antiperoxidase light microscopy immunohistochemistry. Oxytocin-like as well as neurophysin I-like immunoreactivities were found in some cells of all the corpora lutea only, but could not be demonstrated in ovarian stromal tissues, Fallopian tubes and decidua. Specificity of the immunocytochemical reaction was further confirmed by immunoabsorption of the antiserum with excess oxytocin or neurophysin, after which the immunoreactivities for both oxytocin and neurophysin in the luteal tissue were negative. Similar controls using normal rabbit serum gave no positive staining for either oxytocin or neurophysin. Counterstaining of the positive immunoreactivities for oxytocin and neurophysin I with Mayer's haematoxylin and eosin demonstrated clearly that the oxytocin and neurophysin I appeared as granular material mainly within the cytoplasm of the luteal cells. The localization of immunoreactive oxytocin and neurophysin I in the corpus luteum of the baboon demonstrates directly the presence of these two neurohypophysial peptides within primate luteal cells and suggests their local production.


1984 ◽  
Vol 160 (4) ◽  
pp. 1241-1246
Author(s):  
C Jones

Plant lectins are cytotoxic and can be used to select for mutants of animal cells that exhibit structural changes in cell surface carbohydrates reflecting glycosylation defects. We isolated eight lectin mutants of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells that appear to represent three different phenotype classes. These lectin mutants were much more sensitive to the cytotoxic action of normal rabbit serum (NRS) than were the parental cells. This increased cytotoxicity was heat sensitive, specifically absorbed, and inhibited by simple and complex carbohydrates. No killing was observed under conditions in which only the alternate complement pathway was active. An NRS-resistant subclone that was isolated from one lectin mutant was shown to have also regained wild type behavior when tested with the lectins. The possibility that naturally occurring antibodies in rabbit serum are reacting with incomplete carbohydrate chains on the surface of the lectin mutants is discussed.


1943 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvin F. Coburn ◽  
Eleanor M. Kapp

1. Sodium salicylate modifies the precipitation of normal rabbit serum protein by sodium tungstate, and partially inhibits the precipitation of horse serum euglobulin by rabbit antiserum. Sodium salicylate added to a system containing crystalline egg albumin and its antibody partly prevents the formation of precipitate, the degree of inhibition being related to the concentration of salicylate. 2. Precipitation in the equivalence zone is more readily prevented by salicylate than precipitation in the region of antibody excess, the immune system becoming progressively less sensitive to the action of salicylate as the excess of antibody becomes larger. 3. Formed precipitates were partly dissolved following resuspension in the presence of salicylate. 4. The salicylate effect on immune precipitation is reversible, and appears to be due to inactivation of antibody. 5. Salicylate was more effective in preventing specific precipitation than other anions of a lyotropic series tested.


1961 ◽  
Vol 114 (6) ◽  
pp. 875-940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard B. Levine ◽  
Zoltan Ovary

An excess of D-benzylpenicillenic acid (BPE) was reacted with human γ-globulin, human serum albumin, gelatin, and poly-L-lysine in aqueous solution buffered at pH 7.5–8.0. Under these conditions, BPE reacted predominantly with lysine ϵ-amino groups of the proteins to form the mixture of diastereomers of ϵ-N-(D-α-benzylpenicilloyl)-lysine groups (Di-BPO-Lys). BPE reacted also, but to a considerably smaller extent, with cystine disulfide linkages of human γ-globulin and human serum albumin to form D-benzylpenicillenic acid-cysteine mixed disulfide groups (BPE-SS-Cys). Conjugates containing large numbers of BPE or D-penicillamine mixed disulfide groups were prepared by reaction of BPE or D-penicillamine with thiolated human γ-globulin under mild oxidizing conditions. Anti-penicillin antibodies were produced in rabbits by immunization with either potassium penicillin G (PG) or a preincubated mixture of PG with normal rabbit serum (PG-NRS) in complete Freund's adjuvant. Specific precipitation analyses in aqueous and gel media (Ouchterlony), PCA analyses, and specific inhibition of these reactions with haptens were carried out on the rabbit anti-PG and anti-(PG-NRS) sera, using the above conjugates as antigens. The anti-penicillin antibodies were found to be directed against the diastereomeric mixture of N-(D-α-benzylpenicilloyl) groups, predominantly the Di-BPO-Lys groups. By these techniques, no antibodies directed against the BPE-mixed disulfide or the D-penicillamine mixed disulfide groups were detected. Three out of six patients with histories of allergic reactions to PG responded with wheal-and-erythema reactions to the N-(D-α-benzylpenicilloyl) (BPO) groups contained in BPE-human gamma globulin conjugate. Another such patient exhibited serum antibodies specific for the BPO group. One patient being treated with 25 gm per day of PG showed the presence of non-dialyzable antigenic BPO-conjugates in his serum. These results demonstrate that the diastereomeric BPO groups (predominantly Di-BPO-Lys groups) are major antigenic determinant groups responsible for PG hypersensitivity in rabbits and human beings. The possible clinical usefulness of multivalent Di-BPO conjugates and univalent Di-BPO haptens is discussed.


1986 ◽  
Vol 250 (5) ◽  
pp. R803-R806 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. T. Shih ◽  
O. Khorram ◽  
J. M. Lipton ◽  
S. M. McCann

alpha-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) has a marked antipyretic action when given centrally or peripherally, and the concentration of this peptide within the septal region of the brain increases during fever. To assess the significance of endogenous central alpha-MSH in fever, antiserum was given to rabbits via a cannula implanted in the third cerebral ventricle. Each day for 3 days, the animals received 50 microliters of normal rabbit serum (NRS) or an equal volume of antiserum raised against alpha-MSH. Interleukin 1 (IL 1) was then injected intravenously to determine the effect of central immunoneutralization of alpha-MSH on the febrile response. Immunoneutralization markedly prolonged fever. The average rise in temperature and the area under the fever curve after IL 1 injection were also significantly increased. Antiserum treatment did not alter normal body temperature, and NRS had no effect on IL 1-induced fever. These results indicate that endogenous central alpha-MSH contributes to physiological limitation of fever and that the role of this peptide in temperature regulation is relevant to the febrile state but not to normothermia.


1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (4) ◽  
pp. G564-G570 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Rhee ◽  
T. M. Chang ◽  
K. Y. Lee ◽  
Y. H. Jo ◽  
W. Y. Chey

We investigated the existence of an enterogastrone in rats induced by duodenal administration of oleic acid. Acid secretion by the luminally perfused stomach was stimulated in anesthetized rats by intravenous infusion of 0.3 micrograms.kg-1.h-1 pentagastrin. Intraduodenal administration of 3 mmol of oleic acid produced a profound inhibition (94%) of pentagastrin-stimulated acid output in 10 rats (P less than 0.01). Of several peptides in plasma including secretin, neurotensin, somatostatin, and peptide YY, only secretin was found to increase significantly (P less than 0.001). A similar degree of inhibition of acid output (93%) was caused by porcine secretin, 5.6 pmol.kg-1.h-1, given intravenously to mimic the plasma level of secretin produced by oleic acid infusion. The inhibitory effect of oleic acid on the acid secretion was completely reversed by intravenous injection of a rabbit antisecretin serum but not by a normal rabbit serum. These observations strongly suggest that the inhibition was mediated via circulating secretin. The inhibition produced by either oleic acid or secretin was completely blocked by indomethacin. The blocking action was completely reversed by intravenous administration of 48 micrograms.kg-1.h-1 prostaglandin E2. We conclude that endogenous secretin is a major enterogastrone released by oleic acid in anesthetized rats and that the inhibitory action of secretin requires endogenous prostaglandins.


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