Immunological Studies in the Cat: I.—The Serological Response to some Foreign Proteins

Abstract

SUMMARY The precipitin response of cats immunized by various procedures with bovine scrum albumin (BSA), bovine gamma globulins (BGG) and heterologous sera was investigated by antigen elimination, immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophorcsis and quantitative precipitation. The half-lives of[13lI] BSA and [131I] BGG in the cat were found to be 3.8 and 2.8 days, respectively. In general, accelerated immune clearance of antigen occurred only in previously sensitized cats. The response to BSA was feeble and that to BGG, while stronger, was directed only to a minor β-globulin component of the preparation. Although cats immunized with bovine or rabbit serum responded fairly well to the α-aud β-glolndins of these sera, they did not produce precipitins to albumin or γ-globuliu. Cat anti-bovine serum exhibited only a weak binding capacity for BSA. The general characteristics of the quantitative precipitin reaction between bovine β-globulin and specific cat antiserum are similar to systems described previously, but cat antiserum apparently contains some non-precipitating antibody.