Abstract
For the purpose of surveying the contamination and the gene-expression of murine leukemia viruses among experimental mice, the COMUL (complement fixation for murine leukemia) test was employed to detect specific antigen by the method reported by Huebner et al., USA. Antiserum was obtained from an immunized rabbit with the virus inner structural polypeptides antigens which had been produced from the virus treated with ether. The virus was produced from the persistent infected cell culture with murine leukemia virus, Friend strain.
A purified and concentrated virus material was obtained by differential high-speed centrifugation in the centrifugal tube containing with gradient sucrose. Immune rabbit serum was employed to detect the main antigen of the viral polypeptides by the complement fixation reaction. The reaction was suggested a specific reaction mainly with p30 antigen by the immuno-gel-diffusion test, since one continuous precipitate line was observed among the serum prepared by the author and anti-p30 immune serum employed as reference, against ether extracted virus antigens.
Rabbit immune serum was applied to the COMUL test for antigen detection with materials from the liver and the spleen prepared by ether extraction from mice collected in some laboratory. The result showed that the incidence of positive reaction was found low in the liver and high in the spleen. Contrary to the detection of antigen, the antibody detection was attempted by the immuno-gel-diffusion reaction with serums obtained from mice aged more than 6 months and was found negative in all the cases.
Considering the results obtained together with the fact that mice diseased with leukemia a generally accompanied with splenomegaly, the test with rabbit immune serum will be useful for a preliminary survey of murine leukemia to detect specific antigen in spleen and tissue culture cells inoculated with test materials.
