COMPARISON OF THE HANDLING OF FERRITIN AND FERRITIN-PROTEIN CONJUGATES BY THE GLOMERULAR MESANGIUM - KINETIC STUDIES IN THE RAT

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 40  (1) , 18-24
Abstract
Kinetic studies on the uptake and elimination of ferritin and ferritin-protein conjugates in the rat glomerular mesangium are reported. Ferritin was prepared from horse spleens and conjugates were prepared using human Ig[immunoglobulin]G or albumin. The degree of mesangial uptake was dose dependent and a competitive effect with the RES was observed. Maximal mesangial fluorescence occurred at a lower dosage with conjugate than with native ferritin. Conjugate persisted for months within the mesangium as compared to a matter of days in the case of ferritin alone. The disappearance of native ferritin from the mesangium paralleled that seen in the circulation. Conjugate disappeared far more rapidly from the circulation than from the mesangium. At a point in time when the mesangium still contained conjugate but the blood was negative, rabbit antiserum to ferritin was injected and was observed to deposit in the mesangium. This demonstrated the accessibility of mesangially sequestered antigen to circulating antibody. This system provides a model for long-term studies on the effect of immune reactions occurring in the mesangium.