The use of fluorescent labeled antigen to follow the fate of instilled immune complexes in the rabbit lung.
To follow the fate of exogenously introduced immune complexes in the rabbit lung, a direct labeling method was devised. Bovine serum albumin was incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate, washed and then bound at equivalence with antibovine serum albumin. Immune complexes thus prepared are injected into a rabbit airway and the animal was sacrificed. Using chilled alcohol fixative and paraffin embedding 4 micrometer sections were prepared for light and fluorescent microscopy. This technique readily verifies that labeled antigen is taken up by alveolar macrophages. Electron microscopy using ferritin-antiferritin complexes corroborate these light findings.
D000818:Animals; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D000941:Antigens; D002417:Cattle; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D008168:Lung / Q000276:immunology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011817:Rabbits; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine
D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D000941:Antigens; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine