STUDIES IN EXPERIMENTAL EOSINOPHILIA. VI. UPTAKE OF IMMUNE COMPLEXES BY EOSINOPHILS.
A method is described whereby immune complexes may be visualized in a single cell. Bovine serum albumin labeled with a red-fluorescing dye was joined to a rabbit antiserum labeled with a green-fluorescing dye to yield an immune complex which fluoresced yellow when illuminated by ultraviolet light. Such yellow-fluorescing immune complexes were injected into the peritoneal cavity of guinea pigs, and the peritoneal exudates were examined subsequently. Yellow fluorescent particles were seen in eosinophils obtained from guinea pigs sensitized to hemocyanin and from normal animals. Eosinophils of the blood and of the bone marrow could also take up the complexes in vitro. Neither antigen nor antibody alone was taken up by eosinophils, nor was a mixture of labeled antigen and labeled normal globulin. Similar observations were made with human blood eosinophils. These experiments suggest that eosinophils act as part of the defense against the pathogenic effects of certain immune complexes.
D000818:Animals; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D000937:Antigen-Antibody Reactions; D000941:Antigens; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002417:Cattle; D004802:Eosinophilia; D004804:Eosinophils; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera; D011817:Rabbits; D012106:Research; D012709:Serum Albumin; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine
D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D000941:Antigens; D007106:Immune Sera; D012709:Serum Albumin; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine
ANTIGEN-ANTIBODY REACTIONS; BONE MARROW CELLS; EOSINOPHILIA; EXPERIMENTAL LAB STUDY; FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY TECHNIC; GUINEA PIGS; IMMUNE SERUMS; RABBITS; SERUM ALBUMIN, BOVINE