Anti-tubulin antibodies in rabbits before and after immunization with pig tubulin.
Sera from rabbits before and after repeated injections of pig tubulin in complete Freund's adjuvant were examined for antibody activity against pig and rabbit tubulins and against a panel of antigens: actin, myosin, DNA, TNP/BSA. Antibody activity against all the antigens of the panel (PAg) increased moderately after the first but not after subsequent injections. Antibody activity against pig and rabbit tubulins strongly increased after the second immunization when the maximum was reached. Isolation of anti-tubulin antibodies from normal or immune sera on tubulin-immunoadsorbent demonstrated the presence of three different antibody populations: (1) polyspecific IgM reacting with the PAg and the tubulins, present in substantial amounts in normal sera and moderately increased in immune sera; (2) small amounts of polyspecific IgG detected only in immune sera; (3) high amounts of specific IgG reacting with pig and rabbit tubulins, present in immune but not normal sera. Western blot analysis of the specific IgG population showed that it contained antibodies reacting with both native pig and rabbit tubulins, as well as antibodies recognizing only the 30,000 proteolytic fragment of pig, but not that of rabbit tubulin. The results indicate that the immunization of rabbits with heterologous tubulin induced specific IgG anti-tubulin antibodies which recognize the self and non-self antigens differently.
Payelle-Brogard
B
B
Département d'Immunologie, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Ternynck
T
T
Guilbert
B
B
Avrameas
S
S
D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D007114:Immunization; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013552:Swine; D014404:Tubulin / Q000276:immunology*
D000941:Antigens; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D014404:Tubulin