THE SECONDARY ANTIBODY RESPONSE IN TISSUE CULTURE: I. OBSERVATIONS ON PROLONGED ANTIBODY SYNTHESIS BY LYMPH NODE FRAGMENTS IN MEDIA OF DIFFERENT COMPOSITION

Abstract

Lymph node fragments obtained from rabbits immunized 4–9 months previously were cultured in Eagle's medium supplemented with normal rabbit serum or with serine. Upon secondary stimulation with the specific antigen (rat albumin) in vitro, antibody production which lasted over 4 weeks was observed. A difference in the course of antibody synthesis was established in the two different media. In the presence of normal rabbit serum, peak titers of antibody were reached 7–13 days after secondary stimulation, while, in the presence of serine, highest titers were observed on days 13–19. Furthermore, antibody titers diminished faster in the normal rabbit serum cultures as compared to those in the serine cultures. If hydrocortisone was added to culture media containing serine, antibody production by the lymph node fragments followed a pattern similar to that for cultures containing normal rabbit serum. The possible significance of these findings is discussed.