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Immunochemical Studies with Tagged Proteins

I. THE DISTRIBUTION OF TOBACCO-MOSAIC VIRUS IN THE MOUSE

Stamford Research Laboratories, American Cyanamid Company

Abstract

(1) TMV tagged with radioactive phosphorus was injected into mice and the radioactivity found in the liver and spleen and the amount excreted in the feces and urine were followed for a period of 31 days.

(2) At 24 hours 63 per cent of the initial radioactivity injected was found in the liver, 3 per cent in the spleen and 3 per cent had been eliminated in the feces and urine.

(3) By the fourteenth day 96 per cent of the 24-hour activity in the liver and 93 per cent of the 24-hour activity in the spleen had been lost.

(4) After the fourteenth day the activity in the liver and spleen decreased at a rate that closely approximates the rate of excretion of radioactivity.

(5) It is probable that the radioactivity remaining after the fourteenth day is due almost entirely to the incorporation of P³² into naturally occurring phosphorus-compounds in the body of the mouse.

(6) The maximal "half-life" of the injected TMV is calculated to be approximately two days.

(7) The "half-life" of the antibody-molecule approximates a value of 6 to 7 days.

(8) The apparent coincidence in the time between the breakdown of the TMV and the regular decrease in the amount of circulating antibody can be interpreted to indicate that antigen must be present to stimulate the formation of antibody.