Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letters to Editor
  • Published:

Induction of Antibody Synthesis by Purified Immunogenic RNA in vitro

Nature New Biology volume 235, pages 180–182 (1972)Cite this article

Abstract

WE have described an RNA fraction derived from phenol-extracted livers of immunized rabbits, which induced specific antibody production when mixed with normal rabbit spleen cells in vitro1,2. Similar fractions have been described by others using spleen, lymph node or peritoneal exudate cells of mice, rats or rabbits3–12 as sources of the RNA fraction. In all cases it has been assumed that the RNA-donor cell type was a macrophage. Considerable controversy has been generated by these experiments and data have been published to show that (a) the RNA is neither specific13 nor newly synthesized14 and (b) the RNA fraction contains antigen or fragments thereof15–18. Here we show that the data obtained with the rabbit-DNP system2 extend to another laboratory model, the mouse-sheep red blood cell (RBC) system. Our earlier work1,2 suggested that the immunogenic RNA is produced in the macrophage cell, that it is specific and that it is confined to a discrete fraction of the extractable RNA. For these reasons we thought it desirable (a) to compare directly the capacities of both liver and spleen tissue RNA extracts to induce antibody-plaque-forming cells in vitro, (b) to compare the effects of RNAase and pronase on the immunogenic capacity of the RNA fraction, and (c) to investigate the distribution of the immunogenic RNA fraction relative to the total RNA fractions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Harshman, S., Duke, L. J., and Six, H. R., Immunochemistry, 6, 175 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Duke, L. J., and Harshman, S., Immunochemistry, 8, 431 (1971).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Campbell, D. H., and Garvey, J. S., Adv. Immunol, 3, 261 (1963).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Cohen, E. P., and Parks, J. J., Science, 144, 1012 (1964).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Friedman, H., Science, 146, 934 (1964).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Askonas, B. A., and Rhodes, J., Nature, 205, 470 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Fishman, M., van Rood, J. J., and Adler, F. L., in Molecular and Cellular Basis of Antibody Formation (edit. by Sterzl, J.), 491 (Academic Press, New York, 1965).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Friedman, H. P., Stavitsky, A. B., and Solomon, J. M., Science, 149, 1106 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Adler, F. L., Fishman, M., and Dray, S., J. Immunol, 97, 554 (1966).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Bishop, D. C., Pisciotta, A. V., and Abramoff, P. J., Immunology, 99, 751 (1967).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Gottlieb, A. A., Glisin, V. R., and Doty, P., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 57, 1849 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Bell, C., and Dray, S., J. Immunol, 103, 1196 (1969).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Roelants, G. E., and Goodman, J. W., J. Exp. Med., 130, 557 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Gottlieb, A. A., in Nucleic Acids in Immunology (edit. by Plesica, O. J., and Braun, W.), 471 (Springer, New York, 1968).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  15. Saha, A., Garvey, J. S., and Campbell, D. H., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 105, 179 (1964).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Askonas, B. A., and Rhodes, J. M., Nature, 205, 470 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Friedman, H. P., Stavitsky, A. B., and Solomon, J. M., Science, 149, 1106 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Gottlieb, Biochemistry, 8, 211 (1969).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Doan, C. A., Postgrad. Med., 43, 126 (1968).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Pisano, J. C., and Diluzio, N. R., Infect. Immun., 2, 448 (1970).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Pearsall, N. N., and Weiser, R. S., in The Structure of Macrophages, 12 (Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia, 1970).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Haurowitz, Phys. Rev., 45, 1 (1965).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Yamada and Yamada, J. Immunol, 103, 357 (1969).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, 37203

    LINDA J. DUKE, CARLA MILLER & SIDNEY HARSHMAN

Authors
  1. LINDA J. DUKE
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. CARLA MILLER
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. SIDNEY HARSHMAN
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

DUKE, L., MILLER, C. & HARSHMAN, S. Induction of Antibody Synthesis by Purified Immunogenic RNA in vitro. Nature New Biology 235, 180–182 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio235180a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio235180a0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing