Some Immunologic Properties of Human and Dog Glomerular Basement Membranes

Abstract

A consistently useful technique for producing human glomeruli and human glomerular basement membrane preparations has been demonstrated, based on the Krakower-Greenspon method. One human glomerular preparation was microscopically free of any capsular or tubular contaminants. Human and dog glomerular basement membrane preparations were found to produce CF antibodies in the rabbit. An in vitro cross reaction between human and dog glomerular basement membrane preparations was demonstrated by means of a CF test. The homologous titer was greater in all cases. The supernatant of the low speed centrifugate of the oscillated glomeruli, largely cellular, was found to be a good antigen in the in vitro CF test. It is not clear whether this is due to solubilized and fragmented basement membrane or shorn away cellular cytoplasm antigens or both. The most likely explanation for the above facts is that immunologically similar if not identical antigen(s) exist in dog and human glomerular basement membrane preparations of the purity herein described.