The interactions of porcine and ovine, serum and colostral immunoglobulins with staphylococcal Protein A.

The purpose of these studies was to determine the proportion of each immunoglobulin class/subclass in blood and colostrum of the pig and sheep, which would bind to staphylococcal Protein A. The concentrations of porcine IgG, IgM, and IgA were determined for serum and colostral whey from five sows. Similar measurements were made on two fractions produce by elution of the sample through a Protein A-Sepharose column: fraction 1, immunoglobulins which did not bind to Protein A, and fraction 2, immunoglobulins which bound to Protein A. The concentrations of ovine IgG1, IgG2, IgM, and IgA were measured for serum and colostral whey from six ewes, and again similar measurements were made after elution of each ovine sample through Protein A-Sepharose. All classes/subclasses of porcine and ovine serum and colostral immunoglobulins bound to Protein A to some extent. More than 90% of IgG from both porcine colostral whey and serum bound to Protein A. Ovine IgG1 from most ewes possessed a low affinity for Protein A whereas ovine IgG2 generally possessed a high affinity; 100% of the IgG2 in ovine colostral whey samples bound to Protein A. There was remarkable variation between individuals in the binding capacity of porcine IgM and each of the ovine immunoglobulins. For the ovine samples, in particular there were distinct differences between Protein A binding capacity of serum and colostral immunoglobulins of the same class/subclass.