Immunogenicity and Specificity of Collagen

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Abstract
Summary: Rabbit antisera to acid-soluble calf collagen were used for cross-reaction studies with sheep, rat, guinea pig, rabbit and carp collagen in hemagglutination-inhibition tests. Advantage was taken of the use of three antibody fractions differing in specificity. One of them possessed a general collagen specificity, the others were species-specific and directed either to pepsin-stable or pepsin-labile determinants. Some of the antisera contained only one of the antibody fractions, in other cases they were separated on an immunoadsorbent. The antibodies with general collagen specificity reacted with all the collagens, indicating a common antigenic determinant. Small but still significant differences observed in inhibition tests suggest, however, that these determinants are not identical but only similar in structure. The species-specific antibody fraction to pepsin-stable determinants cross-reacted with sheep and rat collagen or with sheep collagen only. The third antibody fraction, which in contrast to the others is directed to pepsin-labile structures of collagen, cross-reacted either with sheep collagen or showed no cross-reaction at all. The results were interpreted for the existence of at least five distinct antigenic determinants on calf collagen.

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