Electrophoretic characterization of specific antibody effects on lymphocytes.

The electrophoretic mobility of lymphocytes can be influenced by incubation with the antibodies. The effects of specific antibodies on the electrophoretic mobility of B and T lymphocytes were determined. Comparison of results obtained under the capping and non-capping conditions suggests strongly that changes in the surface charge of lymphocytes after the interaction with the antibodies we used are not caused by antibody-induced redistribution of surface antigens. Most of the investigated anti-T and anti-B sera react specifically with human and mouse T and B lymphocytes, respectively. This was shown by the reduced electrophoretic mobilities of the relevant populations in the range of 0.06 to 0.22 electrophoretic units. Non-specific interactions of the antisera used with other cells can be excluded. The results of electrophoresis were found to correlate with the results of immunological tests used for the characterization of antibodies, e.g. cytotoxicity, E- and EAC-rosette inhibition, effects on antibody forming cells. Cell electrophoresis can therefore be used to determine antibody specificity. Results with an anti-T suppressor serum show that it is basically possible to detect interactions between highly specific antibodies and T lymphocyte subpopulations by electrophoresis.