Conjugation of antibody to ferritin by means of p,p'-difluoro-m, m'-dinitrodiphenylsulphone

Development of an efficient and simple method for conjugation of laccase to immunoglobulin and its characterization by enzyme immunoassay

A new laccase-conjugated antibody is developed, containing laccase as an enzyme marker, obtained from culture supernatant of the basidiomycetous fungi Pleurotus ostreatus. The efficacy of the laccase-conjugated antibody was demonstrated in indirect and direct enzyme immunoassay after using periodate and glutaraldehyde conjugation methods. The assay based on laccase-conjugated antibody is potent to detect antigens when compared with peroxidase conjugated antibody.

The histogenesis of basement membranes

A parietal yolk sac carcinoma of the mouse that secretes large quantities of basement membrane-like material has been used to study the formation of basement membranes. Suitably characterized fluorescein-labeled antibodies against this material stained basement membranes of epithelial structures and vessels, as well as reticulin. When absorbed with reticulin and vascular basement membranes of the spleen until these structures no longer fluoresced, the antibody still stained the basement membrane-like material of the tumor, its normal embryonic counterpart (Reichert's membrane), and the basement membranes at the bases of epithelial cells. The observation made previously that parietal yolk sac cells secreted, in the absence of connective tissue and reticulin, the basement membrane (Reichert's membrane) upon which they rested has been confirmed through the localization of ferritin-labeled antibody to the endoplasmic reticulin of the secreting cells. Since a basement membrane proven to be an epithelial secretion is antigenically similar to basement membranes at the bases of all epithelial cells studied but antigenically different from connective tissue elements, it is postulated that the basement membranes at the bases of epithelial cells in general are an epithelial secretion, and are not a condensation of ground substance as is commonly believed.

ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF COXIELLA BURNETII IN THE CHICK YOLK SAC

Anacker, R. L. (Rocky Mountain Laboratory, Hamilton, Mont.), K. Fukushi, E. G. Pickens, and D. B. Lackman. Electron microscopic observations of the development of Coxiella burnetii in the chick yolk sac. J. Bacteriol. 88:1130-1138. 1964.-Yolk sac material, obtained daily over a period of 1 week from embryos inoculated with seed of phase I Coxiella burnetii strain Ohio 314 containing 250 units of penicillin, was examined by electron microscopy and other techniques for the presence of rickettsiae. The concentration of rickettsiae in the yolk sac, as determined by electron microscopy, light microscopy, the complement-fixation test, recovery of organisms, and mouse infectivity, was low for the first 3 days, increased rapidly 3 to 5 days after infection, and then remained relatively constant. Rickettsiae in 3- to 7-day cultures, when observed by electron microscopy, had dense fibrillar centers surrounded by less-dense cytoplasmic material containing granules approximately 15 mmu in diameter. The whole was enclosed by multiple external layers. Many appeared to be in various stages of binary fission, and one form which contained a cross-wall was observed. These forms readily combined with ferritin-labeled specific antibody. In rare instances, several kinds of "atypical" forms which did not combine with ferritin-labeled antibody were found in the cytoplasm of yolk-sac cells 4 to 5 days after inoculation; it is not certain whether these forms are artifacts or normal stages in the maturation of C. burnetii. These atypical forms were not observed in subsequent experiments in which embryonated eggs were inoculated with doses of penicillin varying from 0 to 4,000 units per egg.

Thrombin-induced platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb and IIIa complex formation. An electron microscope study

The topographic relationships of platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb and glycoprotein IIIa have been studied in stimulated and unstimulated human platelets using immunoelectron microscopy. An indirect approach with ferritin-conjugated goat anti-rabbit gamma-globulin was used to localize the rabbit antibody to glycoprotein IIIa. The second ultrastructural label was keyhole limpet hemocyanin conjugated directly to antibody to glycoprotein IIb. Using the double labels, it was demonstrated that glycoprotein IIb and glycoprotein IIIa were distributed randomly in the unstimulated platelet membrane. After platelet stimulation with thrombin, large clusters of glycoprotein IIb-glycoprotein IIIa complexes were formed. No complex formation between glycoprotein Ib and glycoprotein IIb was observed in control experiments. These observations suggest that thrombin stimulation initiates the specific glycoprotein IIb-glycoprotein IIIa macromolecular complex formation on the platelet surface, which may act as the active fibrinogen-binding site required for normal platelet aggregation.

Human complement in the arachidonic acid transformation pathway in platelets

Arachidonate-mediated release of 14C serotonin and thromboxane B2 (TXB2) is significantly enhanced in the presence of complement. Only purified complement components C5, C6, C7, C8, and C9 are required for this reactivity. No known activating mechanism of the classical or alternative pathway is required, nor is C3. In the absence of exogenously added complement, platelet membrane-bound complement components play an essential role in modulating arachidonate-mediated serotonin release. Incubation of platelet membranes with arachidonate and C5--C9 led to the production of dimers of the membrane attack complex (C5b--9) on the platelet surface. These macromolecular complexes were eluted from the platelet membrane and were identified physicochemically and morphologically. The possibility arises that C3 in association with C5--C9 is required for mobilization of the arachidonic acid from the phospholipid of the platelet membrane. Once the arachidonic acid is mobilized, C3 is no longer required, C5--C9 being sufficient to modulate this pathway leading to enhanced production of TXB2.

The human complement system in thrombin-mediated platelet function

Thrombin-mediated platelet membrane-specific uptake of C3 and C5 was demonstrated by radiolabeled components and was visualized electron microscopically utilizing a ferritin marker conjugated to monospecific antibody to each component. The role of complement in thrombin-induced platelet function was determined. Though complement was not essential for thrombin-induced platelet aggregation and release of serotonin, these activities were significantly increased if complement was present. The release of serotonin was found to be a nonlytic process because under the conditions employed, no lactic dehydrogenase was released. The activation of complement was induced by a mechanism which has not been previously described. Thrombin associated with the platelet membrane presumably formed a C3 convertase that entered the known complement sequence at the C3 stage and proceeded to activate the terminal components through the known sequence to C9.

Distribution of antibodies to the troponin complex, troponin-C and troponin-I in chicken skeletal muscle as determined by a simplified method for immuno-electron microscopy

Antisera against the troponin complex, troponin-C and troponin-I have been utilized to locate these proteins in normal, adult chicken skeletal muscle and in filaments prepared from chicken acetone dried powder. The antisera had been previously characterized by immunochemical methods and were employed to ascertain the distribution of the proteins by a simple method for immuno-electron microscopy. Glycerinated chicken breast muscle was treated with the antisera, unreacted antibody was washed from the muscle, and a goat anti-rabbit gamma-globulin was added to enhance the electron density of the antigen-antibody complexes. A periodic distribution of anti-troponin-C at a mean interval of 389 A was observed along the thin filaments in the sectioned tissue. Anti-troponin-I was deposited every 399 A (P less than 0-01). Thin filaments were prepared from acetone dried powder and reacted with the antisera. The anti-troponin-C was located every 389 A; anti-troponin-I, every 399 A (P less than 0-01). Our technique for immuno-electron microscopy is compared with that used by others, and the significance of the findings is discussed.