Changes in the synthesis of antibiodies and non-specific immunoglobulins in the spleen perfused in vitro.

The synthesis of antibodies and non-specific immunoglobulins by the rabbit spleen perfused with culture medium has been studied using the incorporation of [C]glycine. Separate perfusion of the two halves of the same spleen provided an opportunity to determine the influence of several factors on the synthesis of these proteins. It was shown that changes in the rate of synthesis of antibodies and non-specific immunoglobulins in the perfused spleen are in some cases similar to the changes observed in the whole organism, and in some cases they are not. Thus, the synthesis of antibodies in the spleen withdrawn 2 days after secondary immunization increased during the 2 days of perfusion and in the spleen taken 4 days after immunization it decreased in the same way as in the whole organism. However, in the spleen taken 3 days after secondary immunization, the synthesis of antibodies during the perfusion period remained unchanged. Another distinction from the processes occurring in the living body was that the increased rate of antibody synthesis in the perfused spleen was not associated with an increase in nonspecific immunoglobulins synthesis.