Eva Orlans

Immunoglobulins in the egg, embryo and young chick

Abstract Current knowledge of the immunoglobulin classes identified in some avian species is reviewed. The distribution and fate of passively acquired immunoglobulins or specific antibodies in compartments of the egg and of the developing embryo and in the newly hatched chick are described, together with the ontogeny of active Ig biosynthesis.

An IgA-like immunoglobulin in the fowl.

Abstract Extracts prepared from the contents of chicken caeca contained only one immunoglobulin which was antigenically distinct from IgG and IgM. In saliva and oviduct washings this immunoglobulin was found together with IgG. Its levels in these secretions, relative to IgG, were much higher than in serum and yolk where it could also be detected. Although not identified by first order criteria, this immunoglobulin seems to be the equivalent in the fowl of mammalian IgA.

Isolation of immune complexes and characterisation of their constituent antigens and antibodies in some human diseases: A review

Soluble immune complexes (IC) circulating in the blood stream can be detected by a variety of methods and these axe widely used in clinical immunology to aid the study of immunopathology of diseases, the assessment of disease progression and the patients response to therapy (e.g., Pussell et al., 1978; Hay et al., 1979; extensively reviewed by Theofilopoulos and Dixon, 1979). Most of these methods show the presence of IC, some provide semi-quantitative estimates but they do not identify the constituent antigen and antibody in the complexes {Lambert et al., 1978). If the antigen or the specificity of the antibody could be identified some indication of the aetiology of the disease and a pathological role for the complexes might be obtained. Moreover there are instances where IC are found in sera but neither free antigen nor antibody can be detected and in these patients the isolation and identification of the IC might be of diagnostic importance (Levo et al., 1977; Kazatchkine et al., 1980; Roberts and Lewis, 1980). In this review we discuss methods for the isolation and purification of immune complexes from biological fluids in amounts sufficient to analyse.

SERUM DELTA-GLOBULIN IN THE YOUNG FOWL (0-29 DAYS) AND IN OTHER AVIAN SPECIES.

FOWL serum contains a protein which has a lower mobility than γ-globulin in agar-gel electrophoresis at pH, 8.6 and was therefore designated δ-globulin1. This component of serum is exceptional in that it has a molecular weight of only about 20,000 and that prolyl constitutes approximately 12 per cent of its amino-acid residues (Richards, to be published). A method for isolating δ-globulin has been described1, but it is complicated by the fact that only small amounts of this component are present in adult fowl sera. For this reason, and in view of its unusual characteristics, its occurrence in young birds and in other avian species was investigated.