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PMID: 6491603 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

A unique natural human IgG antibody with anti-alpha-galactosyl specificity.

The Journal of experimental medicine ·Vol. 160 ·No. 5 ·1984-11-01 ·Pages 1519-31

Galili U, Rachmilewitz EA, Peleg A, Flechner I

Abstract

A new natural anti-alpha-galactosyl IgG antibody (anti-Gal) was found to be present in high titer in the serum of every normal individual studied. The antibody was isolated by affinity chromatography on a melibiose-Sepharose column. The reactivity of the antibody was assessed by its interaction with alpha-galactosyl residues on rabbit erythrocytes (RabRBC). The specificity was determined by inhibition experiments with various carbohydrates. The anti-Gal interacts with alpha-galactosyl residues, possibly on glycolipids of human RBC (HuRBC), after removal of membrane proteins by treatment with pronase. In addition, the anti-Gal bind specifically to normal and pathologically senescent HuRBC, suggesting a physiological role for this natural antibody in the aging of RBC. The ubiquitous presence of anti-Gal in high titers throughout life implies a constant antigenic stimulation. In addition to the theoretical interest in the antibody, the study of the anti-Gal reactivity seems to bear immunodiagnostic significance. Decrease in the antibody titer was found to reflect humoral immunodeficiency disorders.

MeSH Terms
Adult Aged Aging Animals Antibody Specificity Binding Sites, Antibody Blood Donors Child Child, Preschool Chromatography, Affinity Erythrocytes/metabolism,ultrastructure Galactose/immunology Humans Immunoglobulin G/immunology,isolation & purification,physiology Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/immunology Infant Infant, Newborn Rabbits
Chemicals
Immunoglobulin G Galactose
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Galili U
Rachmilewitz E A
Peleg A
Flechner I
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of experimental medicine
Abbr.
J Exp Med
ISSN
0022-1007
DOI
10.1084/jem.160.5.1519
Published
1984-11-01
Pages
1519-31
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
2985109R
PMCID
PMC2187506
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1084/jem.160.5.1519 PMC Full Text View journal details
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