THE GOLDFISH IMMUNE-RESPONSE .1. CHARACTERIZATION OF THE HUMORAL RESPONSE TO PARTICULATE ANTIGENS

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 43  (4) , 755-762
Abstract
Anti-red blood cell (RBC) and anti-hapten antibody syntheses were studied in the goldfish C. auratus. Spontaneous hemagglutination titers were found against all the antigens tested. A weak secondary response was observed in RBC-primed fish boosted during the end-phase of the primary antibody production. When the 2nd antigenic challenge was performed during the early exponential phase of a primary stimulation, an important amplified response was obtained. The antibody production and immunological memory can be dissociated: no antibody synthesis occurred in glutaraldehyde-fixed RBC (F-RBC)-primed animals but a characteristic amplified response was obtained when untreated or F-RBC were given to F-RBC-primed animals. The amplified response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was significantly inhibited when fish were primed with a mixture of sheep and Xenopus RBC, demonstrating an antigenic competition phenomenon. Studies on anti-trinitrobenzene responses confirm the efficiency of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide as a carrier for fish anti-hapten immunization. The kinetics and regulation of antibody synthesis in fish are discussed in relation to the described results.