Studies on Local Antibody Production

Abstract
Lymphocytes found in loose connective tissue spreads prepared from mice injected with glass capillary tube antigen depots were surrounded by parallel rows of agglutinated homologous Salmonella typhimurium and S. typhosa antigens. This phenomenon was not observed in tissue spread prepared from mice inoculated with saline or horse serum containing depots. It is concluded that lymphocytes or their immediate cytogenic precursors were responsible for the phenomenon of surface agglutination in this experiment. The use of capillary tube antigen depots as employed in this study restricts the dissemination of antigens which come in contact with cells more slowly than in the conventional intravenous, subcutaneous or other methods of antigen injection. The method restricts the tissues and cells, involved in antibody production, to a small circumscribed area and thus greatly increases the probability of identification of causal factors in such studies. Further, since it has been shown that antibodies appear in the loose connective tissue adhering to the open end of the capillary depot prior to the time antibodies can be detected in the circulation (18), it seems logical that anomalous cells found in these tissues participate in antibody synthesis. The demonstration of agglutination by lymphocytes under these circumstances is further evidence of the participation of them in antibody production.