Ability of Lupus Erythematosus Serum to Inactivate Bacteriophage X174 Surviving Treatment with Specific Rabbit Antibody.

Abstract
Summary After 4 to 10 hours of incubation, essentially all the surviving phage in the ⊘X 174 phage-anti-phage system was sensitive to further inactivation by several sera from patients with lupus erythematosus (LE) but they were not sensitive to the enzymatic action of DNase. Phage not previously incubated with specific antiserum was resistant to LE serum and DNase. A hypothesis involving infectious nucleic acid as the underlying mechanism for this behavior is presented.