CHEMO-IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDIES ON CONJUGATED CARBOHYDRATE-PROTEINS : IX. THE SPECIFICITY OF ANTIGENS PREPARED BY COMBINING THEp-AMINOPHENOL GLYCOSIDES OF DISACCHARIDES WITH PROTEIN

The results of the present study indicate that by means of serological reactions it is possible to differentiate selectively the p-aminophenol glycosides of maltose, cellobiose, gentiobiose, and lactose. The immunological specificity of disaccharide-protein antigens prepared from these derivatives, irrespective of the nature of the conjoined protein, is determined by (1) the glycoside molecule as a whole, (2) the configuration of the terminal hexose molecule, and (3) the position of linkage of the two hexose units in the carbohydrate radical. The specificity of the antibodies induced by the disaccharide antigens appears to be more sharply defined when the configuration of the terminal hexose is of the β rather than of the α type.