Indirect immunofluorescent identification of 19S immunoglobulin-containing cells in the intestinal mucosa of Xenopus laevis.

The lymphoid structures in the gastrointestinal tract of immunized and non-immunized adult Xenopus laevis were studied by light and fluorescent microscopy. Serial sections stained with May-Grunnwald Giemsa showed that lymphoid aggregations and scattered lymphoid cells are present along the whole digestive tract. The aggregations are few and rather small in the oesophagus and stomach, they are particularly voluminous in the duodenum. An indirect immunofluorescent technique using antisera against Xenopus laevis 19S and 7S immunoglobulins and their heavy polypeptide chains, revealed the presence of immunoglobulin-containing cells in the duodenal region. The oesophagus and stomach were devoid of these. It has been shown that the immunoglobulins produced in the duodenal lamina propria are formed of both heavy and light polypeptide chains, and that the heavy chains are of the 19S H-type.