FOWL ANTIBODY .X. PURIFICATION AND PROPERTIES OF AN ANTIBODY TO 2,4-DINTIROPHENYL GROUP

Abstract

A preparation of fowl antibody to the 2,4-dinitro-phenyl group (DNP), made from antisera to DNP-bovine gamma-globulin by dissociation of a specific precipitate, was more than 90% precipitable by DNP-ovalbumin. This antibody with an approximate molecular weight of 165,000 and the immunoelectrophoretic properties of gammaG-globulin, precipitated with antigen only in 8% NaCl. It fixed fowl complement but did not agglutinate tanned fowl red cells coated with DNP-protein. It had no skin sensitizing activity. Its amino-acid composition was significantly different from that of mammalian antibodies. Some of the properties of another DNP-specific antibody that appeared later in immunzation are also described.