Some Considerations of the Antigen Dose-Antibody Response Relationship

[摘要] Data derived from the literature are presented in support of the 1912 theory of Smith and St. John-Brooks that the antigen dose-antibody response follows the form: K 1 c 1/ n Ab where K 1 is a constant, c is the concentration of the antigen, n is a constant between 1.9 and 3.6 and Ab is the maximum concentration of antibody.The value of n appears to depend upon the chemical composition of the antigen. For proteins, n is about 1.9, for lipopolysaccharides about 2.6, and for polysaccharides about 3.6. From limited data, this equation appears to hold only at intermediate concentrations of antigen. At low concentrations, n approaches 1, while at high concentrations n approaches infinity.On the basis of the above equation, certain values for K 1 could be calculated, and these are listed.These findings are consistent with, but do not prove, the concept that the limiting step in antibody production involves an adsorption process.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）