Quantitative Studies on the Precipitin Reaction: Antibody Production in Rabbits Injected with an Azo Protein

Quantitative Studies on the Precipitin Reaction: Antibody Production in Rabbits Injected with an Azo Protein

Contributor(s):
Heidelberger, Michael
Kendall, Forrest E.
Soo Hoo, Check M.
Journal of Experimental Medicine
Publication:
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, August 1933
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Antigen-Antibody Reactions
Proteins
Precipitins
Genre(s):
Archival Materials
Articles
Abstract:
Throughout the 1930s, Heidelberger and Kendall continued to provide chemical proof that antibodies were protein by measuring the amount of nitrogen in precipitates from reactions between antibodies and protein or polysaccharide antigens. John R. Marrack, a British immunologist, had been critical of this work, maintaining that Heidelberger assumed that the reaction had reached equilibrium and that only two antigen-antibody complexes were being formed, when in fact there might have been more. Heidelberger's response, documented in this article, was to use a purplish-red diazo dye that chemically attached to the protein antigen used, here the protein egg albumin. Heidelberger and Kendall purified antibody-antigen precipitates produced by the precipitin reaction then subtracted the quantity of colored nitrogen (derived from the egg albumin antigen) from the total amount of nitrogen. The remainder was the amount of nitrogen contributed by the antibody. Because almost all proteins contain nitrogen, Heidelberger and Kendall thus concluded that antibodies were proteins. Moreover, they had developed a technique that for the first time allowed measurement of antibody nitrogen in units of absolute weight and, with it, of the amount of antibodies present.
Copyright:
This item may be under copyright protection; contact the copyright owner for permission before re-use.
Extent:
16 pages
NLM Unique ID:
101584940X14 (See in Profiles in Science)
Profiles in Science ID:
DHBBBR
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X14
Archival Collection:
The Michael Heidelberger Papers (Profiles in Science)