Abstract
Summary
The work described here has revealed the presence of a large number of antigenic components in a soluble fraction obtained from an originally insoluble residue of rat liver. The major source of these antigens appears to be the liver connective tissue. The material used for their preparation was an extensively washed insoluble residue of rat liver, morphologically appearing as bundles of fibers, with no cells present. The antigens were absent from the rat plasma. One of them (No. 3) was not found in the supernate of the liver homogenate, the others were found there in much smaller concentrations. Both the original antiserum prepared against liver sediment and a purified antibody fraction derived from it reacted only with the connective tissue elements of the liver and kidney. The presence of some of these antigens in both liver and kidney indicates that they are probably widespread constituents of the connective tissue and are not specific for the liver. The use of sonic vibration for solubilizing connective tissue components while maintaining their antigenic reactivity may open the way to an analysis of the composition of connective tissue unattainable heretofore.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.