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Studies on Organ Specificity

XVII. Autoantigens of Rabbit Kidney¹

From the Departments of Bacteriology and Immunology and of Pathology, School of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York

Abstract

Rabbits injected with homogenate or extract of pooled rabbit kidneys, emulsified with complete Freund's adjuvant, responded in most cases with the production of antibodies, as detected by gel diffusion and complement fixation methods. The antisera showed a high degree of tissue and species specificity, giving strong reactions with extracts of rabbit kidney and very weak reactions with extracts of kidney from other species and of other tissues of rabbit. In gel diffusion, there were three antigen-antibody systems. Comparison of various rabbit tissues revealed a prominent antigen which was kidney-specific, a second antigen which was also kidney-specific but a minor component, and a third antigen which was shared between kidney and other tissues.

All three antibodies were shown to be autoantibodies, indicating the existence, not only of kidney-specific autoantigens, but also of a non-tissue-specific autoantigen. Damage to kidney structures was suggested from the development of proteinuria in most of the rabbits and from the histologic examinations. The latter showed mild cellular proliferation in the glomeruli of some of the animals. It may well be that more severe tissue damage would have been detected if the kidneys had been examined at earlier stages during immunization.

Footnotes

¹ Supported in part by a grant from the National Foundation and by Research Grant CA-02357 from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, United States Public Health Service.

² Recipient of Research Career Award K6-AI-1377 from the United States Public Health Service.