IMMUNOPEROXIDASE LOCALIZATION OF ANTIHAPTEN ANTIBODIES IN RATS RESPONDING UNEQUALLY TO ANTIGENIC STIMULATION

Abstract

The present work reports on an electron microscopic study of the primary response of two strains of rats to the subcutaneous injection of the hapten 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP). When this substance is injected into the two strains used, there is either a weak or a strong production of circulating anti-DNP antibodies. Satellite lymph nodes were fixed in glutaraldehyde, incubated in a solution of horseradish peroxidase labeled with DNP and treated with diaminobenzidine + H₂O₂. A specific positive reaction was observed: ( a) in the perinuclear cisternae of numerous lymphocytes and lymphoblasts; ( b) in the perinuclear cisternae as well as in the peripheral cisternae of some plasmablasts; and ( c) in a recently described rare type of cell known as a "lymphoplasmacyte." In certain lymphocytes, there was an accumulation of the reaction product in the perinuclear cisternae, and sometimes in the peripheral cisternae, which, in some places, provoked a dilation of the cisternae. There was no significant qualitative difference between the two strains of rats.