Abstract
It has been shown that ragweed antigen E loses its major antigenic determinants after denaturation in 8 M urea, but urea denatured (UD) antigen and an α polypeptide chain isolated from the denatured molecules are capable of priming mouse T cells specific for native antigen. Weekly injections of 10μg UD antigen or α chain into antigen E primed animals depressed the ongoing IgE antibody response, whereas injections of the same dose of antigen E failed to depress the antibody response. It was found by adoptive transfer experiments that helper activity of antigen E primed splenic T cells was depressed by the treatment of the donors with either modified antigen or native antigen E. The same treatment of antigen E primed animals depressed the DNA synthetic response of their splenic T cells to antigen E. The treatment of antigen E primed animals with UD antigen resulted in a decrease of antigen E specific IgE B cells and IgG B cells in their spleen, whereas the treatment with native antigen expanded the B cell populations. In view of the results obtained in the mouse, cellular basis for the immunologic effects of hyposensitization treatment is discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1469-1476 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Immunology |
Volume | 115 |
Issue number | 6 |
State | Published - Dec 1 1975 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology