In Vitro Induction of Sulfanilic Acid-Specific Antibodies by RNA Extracted from Rat Spleen

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Abstract
Rats were immunized with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or sulfanilic acid conjugated to BSA (sa-BSA) and RNA was extracted from spleens that were synthesizing antibody. The extracted RNA was used to induce sulfanilic acid-specific plaque forming cells (PFC) in a population of non-immune isologous cells in vitro. The induction was specific, since a significant number of PFC appeared in the presence of RNA from sa-BSA but not from either BSA-immunized or non-immunized rats. Sucrose gradient analysis of extracted RNA showed most of the immunogenic activity to be associated with light RNA (4 to 12S). The immunogenic activity of RNA was inhibited by RNase, partially inhibited by pronase, and not affected by DNase. Agglutination inhibition used to detect antigen associated with immunogenic RNA gave negative results. Analysis of RNA extracted from spleens of rats immunized with radioactive sulfanilic acid conjugated to BSA showed that radioactivity was not preferentially associated with immunogenic RNA.

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