The Influence of Lens Antibodies on the Development of Lens Antigen-containing Tissues in the Chick Embryo

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Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to analyse the effect of treatment with antibodies prepared against total lens or against alpha, beta, and gamma crystallin separately on the development of 24-, 32-, and 42-hour chick embryos. The following observations were made after an additional incubation period of 50-70 hours.When 32-hour chick embryos were treated with the different antibodies, cellular degeneration and gross abnormalities such as anencephalus, rachischisis, and anophthalmia were observed only in embryos treated with total lens or with alpha crystallin antiserum, but not in those treated with beta or gamma crystallin antiserum. Since the result of treatment with total lens and with alpha crystallin antibodies was identical in nature, it is concluded that the antibody effect is due exclusively to the interaction of alpha crystallin antibodies and their corresponding cellular antigens. The cellular degeneration and gross abnormalities were restricted to brain and eye, that is those organs in which the presence of lens antigens had been demonstrated earlier by means of immunological and fluorescent antibody techniques. None of the other tissues and organs in the abnormal embryos showed any effect of antibody treatment, thus indicating a high specificity of the alpha crystallin antigen-antibody reaction. Abnormalities found in the 24-hour series were identical to those obtained in the 32-hour series, indicating that in both cases the alpha crystallin antibodies had interfered with the same developmental processes. Treatment of 42-hour embryos was ineffective, suggesting that at this stage of development the antigen-antibody interaction either has become impossible, or is no longer able to interfere with morphological development. Since in many of the grossly abnormal embryos no indication of cellular degeneration was found, it seems likely that an antigen-antibody interaction not necessarily leads to cellular degeneration and necrosis, but may also interfere with cell life in a less damaging manner, such as inhibition of growth and rechannelling of normal differentiation capacities.