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The Precipitation Reaction. Experiments with an Antiserum Containing Two Antibodies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

H. R. Dean ,
G. L. Taylor  and
Muriel E. Adair
H. R. Dean
Affiliation:
From the Department of Pathology and the Biochemical Laboratory, Cambridge
G. L. Taylor
Affiliation:
From the Department of Pathology and the Biochemical Laboratory, Cambridge
Muriel E. Adair
Affiliation:
From the Department of Pathology and the Biochemical Laboratory, Cambridge
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Of the chemical structure of antibodies little or nothing is known. It is generally held that the specific properties of an antiserum are closely associated with the globulin fraction. An antiserum may be distinguished from a normal serum by the precipitation of some of its globulins in the presence of the homologous antigen. The formation of a precipitate in a mixture of antigen and antiserum may be explained in either of two ways: (1) The reaction which occurs when antigen is added to antiserum may produce such physical changes in the mixture that normal globulin is precipitated. The reaction takes place between two specific substances, the antigen and the antibody, and is rendered visible by the presence of a non-specific globulin which plays the part of an indicator. (2) Or we may suppose that in the process of immunisation the antigen produces a specific alteration in the structure of the globulin. That is to say, the antibody is a specifically altered globulin, which has undergone some change in its molecular structure, in virtue of which it can react and combine with the homologous antigen.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , February 1935 , pp. 69 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1935

References

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