SELECTIVE REMOVAL OF TRANSFER FACTOR ACTIVITY WITH ANTIGEN

Abstract

This chapter presents experiments that show that addition of antigen to transfer factor-containing leukocyte dialysates abrogates the in vivo effects of transfer factor in an immunologically-specific manner. By use of antigen that is conjugated to Sepharose, it is possible to selectively remove a transfer-factor activity from dialysates containing multiple transfer factors. The experiments presented in the chapter have provided evidence that transfer factor interacts with antigens in an immunologically specific manner and that this interaction selectively neutralizes the sensitizing activity of that transfer factor. An alternative mechanism, that there is selective degradation of the antigen-sensitizing activity, has not been ruled out but seems unlikely. Thus far, the attempts to recover the transfer factor activity from the antigen-Sepharose complexes have yielded materials that were rapidly lethal for mice. The experiments with soluble antigens are also compatible with the hypothesis that transfer factor combines with antigen in an immunologically specific manner. In these experiments, the antigens were not removed from the transfer factor-containing dialysates and transfer factor activity was inhibited in a selective manner. These observations may provide evidence against the proposal that transfer factor activity is because of antigenic materials that contaminate the preparations.