STUDY OF ANTIGENIC CONSTITUENTS OF SERA FROM MOUSE/RAT CHIMAERAS

  • 1 January 1962
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 5  (6) , 673-+
Abstract
The sera of CBA mice lethally irradiated and restored with rat bone marrow or foetal liver have been examined by immunoelectrophoresis at various times after irradiation. Such sera contain several specific rat proteins including gamma globulin, at least two [alpha]2 globulins, one or two [beta]1 globulins and one [beta]2 globulin. A large number of specific mouse proteins are also present, but no mouse gamma globulins have been detected. The rat constituents appear progressively and persist for long periods; this implies that they are synthetized by rat cells. There is a close correlation between the presence of rat gamma globulin in the serum and the presence of dividing rat cells in the bone marrow and spleen. The fact that gamma globulin is solely of rat specificity does not necessarily rule out the possibility of immune activity by the host against the graft. Several of the normal serum proteins, in addition to the gamma globulins, originate from the injected cells, and are therefore presumably not synthesized by the liver. In chimaeras grafted with rat skin, the number of specific rat serum proteins is often larger than the number in chimaeras which have not been grafted.