Behavior of Complement in Antigen-Antibody-Complement Precipitates

[摘要] When complement from either guinea pig, rabbit, human or pig serum was fixed to immune precipitates it blocked the subsequent fixation of both hemolytic activity and complement N from added complements. In most instances when immune precipitates were “saturated” with respect to complement N they still could remove hemolytic activity from fresh sera. With the use of I131 (I*) complement it was demonstrated that the ability of “saturated” precipitates to remove additional hemolytic activity from fresh sera was, in part, the result of a “dissociation” of fixed complement in the presence of the fresh sera. A large amount of the I* material released from the immune precipitates was able to refix to fresh precipitates. Various protein solutions lacking complement also caused a release of I* material from the immune precipitates; however, this material did not refix very well to fresh immune precipitates. The nonrefixable I* material which was released from the antigen-antibody-I*C precipitates may well have been a substance or substances other than complement.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）