The Second Stage of the Agglutinative Reaction

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Abstract
The common conception of precipitative and agglutinative reactions is that they proceed in two separate stages: (a) a specific combination between the antigen and its antibody, and (b) a non-specific stage of aggregation of the sensitized particles, in which electrolytes play a rôle. Marrack (1) has recently offered another interpretation. He believes that molecules or particles of antigen and antibody-molecules alternately combine to build up a three-dimensional lattice or mosaic by virtue of the presence in the antigenic particles and antibody-molecules of several combining groups. According to this concept, combination of antigen and antibody and aggregation occur simultaneously, and both “stages” would be specific. Heidelberger and Kendall (2) have reported quantitative studies on the precipitative reaction favoring Marrack's hypothesis. Topley, Wilson, and Duncan (3) were the first to suggest studies on mixed agglutination of morphologically distinguishable antigens as a method of solving this problem.

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