The Biologic Activities of Guinea Pig Antibodies

Abstract
Guinea pig γ1 immunoglobulins diminish the hemolytic activity in fresh serum when added as preformed immune precipitates. The loss in lytic potency is due primarily to interaction with the late C components beginning with C3. This fixation profile differs from that of the γ2 immunoglobulins which utilize all of the C components, whether they interact with antigen in the presence of C, or are incubated with C as preformed precipitates. Since the γ1 immunoglobulins do not cleave C3 in the presence of EDTA, it is suggested as one alternative, that a metal requiring enzyme other than the C4–C2 convertase may be involved in initiating C utilization by guinea pig γ1 immunoglobulins.