Studies on avian spinal cord chimeras. II. Immune response of the chicken host to the graft of quail tissue.
A previous study described clinical and pathological manifestations observed in 49 chimeras produced by replacing a small fragment of the neural tube of a chicken embryo by a similar fragment from a Japanese quail embryo. Predominant antibodies in sera of these birds were directed against xenogeneic antigens which are devoid of organ specificity and which are present in quail tissues but absent from chicken tissues. Mixed agglutination test with quail cell monolayers detected such antibodies in sera of all chimeras tested. In most instances, positive reactions were observed already in the 4th week after hatching; they persisted in all birds throughout the observation period of up to 8 months. Some of the detected antibodies were directed against saline-nonextractable surface antigens of quail cells. Enzyme immunoassay with quail organ extracts, agglutination of quail tissue particles, and indirect immunofluorescence test with quail organ sections were positive with sera of many, but not all, chimeras. CNS-specific antibodies, apparently autoantibodies, were detected in serum samples of only one chimera, using enzyme immunoassay with extract of chicken brain and indirect immunofluorescence test with sections of chicken spinal cord. Eluates from lesional spinal cord contained antibodies to non-organ-specific quail antigens but not to CNS-specific antigens. Cerebrospinal fluids of many chimeras had antibodies to quail antigens, but no evidence for antibody formation within the CNS was obtained. Cell-mediated immunity could be demonstrated in all chimeras tested by means of lymphocyte proliferation test after stimulation by quail organ extract. It was concluded that pathological events in the studied chimeras have been most likely mediated primarily by humoral immune responses to non-organ-specific quail antigens.
Yang
G
G
Department of Microbiology, State University of New York, Buffalo 14214.
Albini
B
B
Milgrom
F
F
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002645:Chickens; D002678:Chimera / Q000276:immunology*; D003370:Coturnix; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008297:Male; D013045:Species Specificity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000276:immunology / Q000637:transplantation*