THE CROSS-REACTIVITY AND TRANSFER OF ANTIBODY IN TRANSPLANTATION IMMUNITY

A close inomunochemical relationship of Forssman-type antigens in cells or in a methanol extract of guinea pig kidneys, lymph nodes, and platelets, of horse kidneys, and of sheep erythrocytes was demonstrated by complement-fixation, agglutination, and inhibition of hemolysis. The dissociation of antibody from several cross-reacting complexes and re-association with antigens of erythrocytes used for immunization was inferred from quantitative hemolytic assays. This preferential affinity of antibody for the antigen used for immunization is proposed as an immunochemical model for reactions which function in graft rejection phenomena wherein the donor and recipient tissues share cross-reacting antigens.