Albumin In Mice Research Articles

Catabolism of Serum Albumin in X-Irradiated Mice

Determination of apparent half-life of131 I screened mouse serum albumin was performed in X-irradiated mice. By comparison with control animals, a shorter half-life was observed in the plasma and i...

Protein catabolism in young mice following whole-body x irradiation.

A survey of the literature on the effects of bombardment of high-energy charged particles upon body composition in mammals following wholebody irradiation indicates that there are a number of areas in which, at most, only scant information exists. One of the most satisfactory approaches for obtaining valid physiological and biochemical data based on kinetic studies of cellular, tissue, and compartmental transfer and exchange of many elements and compounds is through the use of reproducible radioisotopic technics. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of whole-body x irradiation on protein degradation in young mice. For this purpose 131I-Iabeled albumin was administered to nonirradiated and to irradiated mice, and the biological half -life was then determined by counting in a small-anmial whole-body gamma spectrometer. The biological half-life for human 131I albumin in mice has been reported by Terres et al. (1) to be 14.5 ±0.5 hours. In another study Melcher and his colleagues (2) also utilized human serum albumin and reported for plasma in mice a half-time of 36.8 hours. In view of these discordant findings nonirradiated mice were first used in our studies to establish the normal value for the biological halflife of 131I albumin in the same strain as would be subsequently employed for postirradiation studies. It was also felt that using a whole-body counter would offer the most suitable technic. The reasons for this have been pointed out by Lippincott et al. (3) in the first study with the whole-body gamma spectrometer of human albumin turnover in man. The same factors apply for whole-body counting in mice. The whole-body gamma spectrometer permits in vivo measurement of very low levels of an internally deposited gamma emitter (in this case, the 131I). It eliminates the labor involved in taking multiple serial sera samples (if the half-life is determined in the latter) and the tedious radiochemical analyses of excreta. The values obtained from sera, from urine, or from whole-body counting are essentially the same. The rate of metabolic turnover of human 131I albumin, expressed as biological half-life, has been determined in 2 untreated groups of 3-month-old male C3H mice totalling 27, and in 3 groups totalling 25 which received whole-body x irradiation of 300, 600, and 900 rads respectively (TABLE I). The metabolic study in the last three groups was initiated between 85 and 90 hours postirradiation because weight curves, as one expression of postirradiation injury, suggested that by this time substantial recovery had occurred, although continuing injury might well be present. By selecting this period, at a subsequent time a study could be made of the immediate acute postirradiation phase for comparative purposes, and indeed a further study could be made of old mice which had received x irradiation when of the same age as those in the above groups.

Quantitative studies of the adoptive immunological memory in mice. I. An age-dependent barrier to syngeneic transplantation

Antibody-forming cells suspended from a mouse spleen and transferred to intact animals of the same genotype face a barrier which severely affects their capacity to implant and/or to function. This phenomenon was quantitatively studied in a model system which, utilizing the immunogenic properties of human serum albumin in mice, allows the secondary response of the transferred cells to be followed without interference from the host's own reactivity. The barrier to syngeneic transplantation was found (a) to be radiosensitive (500 R X-rays to the recipient abolishes it and insures optimal functional conditions to the donor cells) in the same order of magnitude of other mammalian systems involving rapidly dividing cell populations, and (b) to depend upon the age of the recipient: its linear rise is documented from birth time (when approximately 50% of the maximal immune capacity of the transfer is expressed) to the age of 2 months ( approximately 1 %). The significance of these findings to the immune response and to cell growth and differentiation is discussed.

QUANTITATIVE STUDIES OF THE ADOPTIVE IMMUNOLOGICAL MEMORY IN MICE

Antibody-forming cells suspended from a mouse spleen and transferred to intact animals of the same genotype face a barrier which severely affects their capacity to implant and/or to function. This phenomenon was quantitatively studied in a model system which, utilizing the immunogenic properties of human serum albumin in mice, allows the secondary response of the transferred cells to be followed without interference from the host's own reactivity. The barrier to syngeneic transplantation was found (a) to be radiosensitive (500 R X-rays to the recipient abolishes it and insures optimal functional conditions to the donor cells) in the same order of magnitude of other mammalian systems involving rapidly dividing cell populations, and (b) to depend upon the age of the recipient: its linear rise is documented from birth time (when approximately 50% of the maximal immune capacity of the transfer is expressed) to the age of 2 months ( approximately 1 %). The significance of these findings to the immune response and to cell growth and differentiation is discussed.

Acquired immunological unresponsiveness to bovine plasma albumin in mice.

It has been suggested by Cinader (1961) and Dresser (1961) that the failure to demonstrate specific unresponsiveness, or the production of partial unresponsiveness, by the injection of the antigen prior to or soon after birth could be due to the presence of impurities in the antigens used. An animal injected neonatally with sufficient principal antigen to induce unresponsiveness would retain reactive competence to the impurities. Subsequent challenge would elicit no antibodies to the principal antigen but only to the impurities. In order to test this simple hypothesis the following studies, using bovine plasma albumin (B.P.A.) (Armour Fraction V) as an antigen, were undertaken with two-dimensional gel diffusion analysis of the specific antigenj antibody reactions of the albumin and its impurities. The methods developed by Sobey and Magrath (unpublished data) were used to measure antibody response to the principal antigen (B.P.A.-albumin) and the impurities (B.P.A.-impurities). All titres are given in a log2 scale.

The Production and Transfer of Immune Reactions to Bovine Serum Albumin in Isogenic and Allogeneic Mice

Summary Isogenic A-line mice and nonisogenic Swiss mice were sensitized to BSA incorporated into Freund's complete adjuvant. Booster injections of soluble BSA were given intracutaneously 17 and 24 days after the initial antigen injection. Spleen, lymph node and thymus cells were transferred intraperitoneally to normal recipients of the same strain 2, 7 and 14 days after the booster injections to the donor mice. In cell transfers between nonisogenic Swiss mice, antibody production was transient, whereas in cell transfers between isogenic A-line mice, antibody production by transferred cells continued for many days. This study demonstrates the essentiality for immunogenetic compatibility of donor and recipient in cell transfer experiments.

The Production and Transfer of Immune Reactions to Bovine Serum Albumin in Isogenic and Allogeneic Mice

Summary Arthus skin reactions with variable delayed induration were produced in mice sensitized to bovine serum albumin and skin tested several times with antigen. This indurated reaction could not be transferred, in the absence of serum antibodies, with sensitized lymphoid cells. Mild Arthus reactivity could be transferred with serum from sensitized donors. The failure to transfer the indurated component of the skin reaction, similar to delayed-type hypersensitivity described in the guinea pig, was regarded as evidence that this induration was a manifestation of a severe Arthus reaction. The indurated skin reaction was termed a “delayed component of the Arthus skin reaction.”

The Effect of Rabbit Antibody Administration on the Behavior of I131 Labelled Human Serum Albumin in Mice

Abstract It has been shown that there is an increase in the rate of disappearance of radioactivity from the plasma following administration of specific antigen to mice previously injected with I131 rabbit antibody (1). Dixon et al. demonstrated a similar phenomenon with I131 antigen in actively immunized rabbits (2, 3). The increased rate of loss of I131 from the plasma was followed by an increased rate of I131 excretion. The determination of radioactivity in the “globulin” space, thyroid and excreta and by balance calculations of I131 in the mouse after antigen administration revealed a transient deficit of I131. This deficit probably represents an additional I131 tissue pool since a temporary increase of tissue to plasma I131 ratio was found at this time. In the experiments reported here the behavior of I131 trace labelled human serum albumin was studied in mice.