The use of radioactive isotopes in immunological investigations. 4. Antibodies to phospholipins

Abstract

Lipovitellin containing P32 was used to study the lipid and vitellin P contents of lipovitellin-anti-lipovitel-lin precipitates. Fresh anti-lipovitellin rabbit serum gives precipitates which have significantly higher lipid P/vitellin P ratios than has the lipovitellin used as antigen. This ability of the antiserum specifically to react with phospholipins is lost when the sterile serum is kept for some weeks in the refrigerator, probably because of interaction, with precipitate formation, between the antibodies and the normal lipids in the antiserum. These antisera do not lose their "antilipid" antibodies when kept in the freeze-dried state. The significance of antibodies to phospholipins is briefly discussed.