Neonatal mice delivered from mothers preimmunized with heated or formalinized whole cell vaccines of type Ia, Ia/c and III/c group B streptococci were infected with each type of bacteria, and then serum antibodies of mothers and neonates who survived the experiments were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relationship between the protectivity in neonate mice and the antibody titers to the type specific polysaccharide antigens and the protein c antigen of their sera were examined.
In the Ia-immunized group which showed high protection against the type Ia infection, anti-Ia IgG antibody titers were low, and anti-protein c IgG antibody was not detected. Type Ia/c and III/c vaccines were highly effective against both type Ia/c and III/c infection, but less effective in type Ia infection. The protein c antigen was identified in both type strains by the double diffusion assay, and the IgG antibodies to the protein c were significantly high in sera of both maternal mice immunized with types Ia/c or III/c organisms and their newborn infants. High titers of the protein c IgG antibody retained 3 to 4 weeks after the last injection of vaccines which corresponded to the period of pregnancy and lactation. Small amounts of IgM antibody to all antigens were detected only in maternal sera.
These results suggest that IgG antibodies to the protein c antigen and to the type-specific polysaccharide antigens are equally important protective factors which are transferable from preimmunized mothers to their newborn infants through placenta and/or lactation.

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Laser-excited Raman spectra were examined in lyophilized spores of Bacillus cereus. In a comparison of the spectrum of the dormant spore with that of the germinated spore, we found several Raman bands which occurred in the former but not in the latter. Among these Raman bands, the 1, 573, 1, 395, 1, 017, 822, and 662cm^-1 bands were assigned to the vibrational frequencies of calcium dipicolinate (CaDPA). No Raman bands and peaks due to dipicolinic acid (H₂DPA) were observed. This Raman evidence indicates that CaDPA is the predominant DPA species in this spore.
We also proposed a tentative assignment for other vibrational frequencies due to several components of the spore.

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African non-human primates were surveyed seroepidemiologically for natural infection of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (ATLV/HTLV-I) or its closely related virus(es). Materials from three genera (Cercopithecus, Papio, and Theropithecus), four species (grivet monkey, Anubis baboon, Hamadryas baboon, and gelada), totalling 983 animals under natural conditions, were obtained in a field study in Ethiopia. Virus infection was determined by the indirect immunofluorescence test using HTLV-I specific antigens. Animals seropositive for HTLV-I were found among grivet monkeys and Anubis baboons including the hybrid offspring between Anubis and Hamadryas baboons but not pure-Hamadryas baboons and geladas. From these results, the HTLV-I family was proved to be widespread on the African continent and was regarded as a common retrovirus among catarrhines.

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Anti-idiotype antibodies were induced by injecting BALB/c mice with syngeneic antibody against the hemagglutinin of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). These anti-idiotype antibodies were purified and injected into syngeneic mice. Anti-anti-idiotype sera thus prepared contained antibodies against the hemagglutinin of NDV. This NDV-mouse experimental system might provide a good experimental model for investigation of basic problems of idiotype vaccine.

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An outbreak of echovirus type 30 infection associated with aseptic meningitis occurred among newborn babies in a hospital neonatal room at Fukui City in 1983. The isolated virus was identified as an antigenic variant of echovirus type 30 by cross-neutralization tests with antisera against the prototype Bastianni strain and the present isolate. Western blot analysis demonstrated that the antigenic determinants responsible for virus neutralization, some of which were type specific and others strain specific, were present on the capsid protein VP1. The current strain was more thermoresistant than the prototype, suggesting some alterations in virus structural proteins.

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Monospecific (MSp-) antisera against E1 and E2 glycoproteins of western equine encephalitis (WEE) virus were prepared and examined for binding activities to whole virions, hemagglutination-inhibition (HI), neutralization (NT) and protection. Both anti-E1 and anti-E2 MSp-antibodies (Abs) showed HI activity, but not NT activity. Both NT-negative MSp-Abs protected mice against WEE virus challenge. A competition experiment with monoclonal antibodies showed that these MSp-antisera appear to lack the antibody population for some epitopes involved in viral neutralization.

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The percentage of cells of different T-cell subsets and their functions in tuberculous pleural effusion were investigated. The percentage of OKT4-positive cells was 65±2% (mean±SEM, n=8) and that of OKT8-positive cells was 19±3% (n=8). Pleural T lymphocytes of patients with tuberculous pleurisy responded well to stimulation with purified protein derivative of tuberculin, and deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis was observed along with gamma interferon (IFN-γ) production. When pleural T lymphocytes of patients with tuberculous pleurisy were treated with OKT4 monoclonal antibody and complement, a significant decrease in IFN-γ production was observed in all eight patients (P<0.005), whereas no definite decrease in IFN-γ production was found after treatment with OKT8 monoclonal antibody and complement. These results suggest that at least the OKT4⁺/OKT8^- T-cell subset is responsible for the antigen-specific IFN-γ production in pleural T lymphocytes of patients with tuberculous pleurisy.

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An 8-year-old girl with meningococcal meningitis lacked serum complement activity. The seventh component of complement (C7) could not be detected in her serum by either functional or immunochemical analysis. The levels of the other components were within the normal range. Her serum complement activity was restored by the addition of purified C7. Her fresh serum showed a total absence of bactericidal activity against Neisseria meningitidis, group Y, but her serum bactericidal activity was restored by the addition of purified C7. The restoration of her serum bactericidal activity was completely inhibited in the presence of Mg²⁺ EGTA. These findings suggest that restoration of the bactericidal activity of her serum against N. meningitidis might be mediated by the specific antibody against N. meningitidis and the reconstituted complement system in her serum.
Heterozygous deficiency of C7 was found in 10 of her family members. Genetic studies showed that the mode of inheritance might be an autosomal codominant trait. No genetic linkage between deficiency of C7 and the HLA system was found.

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Twelve hybridoma cell lines producing monoclonal antibodies to the human interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptor (IL-2R) molecule were prepared. These antibodies were characterized by competitive antibody-binding assay and sequential immunoprecipitation assay with four known monoclonal antibodies to the human IL-2R molecule. The twelve new monoclonal antibodies were divided among the four known antibody types, the HIEI-, H-A26-, H-31-, and anti-Tac-type, and an additional new type, the H-48-type. The H-48 antibody did not compete with any other antibodies in the competitive binding assay. The binding of ¹²⁵I-IL-2 to MT-2 cells and the IL-2-dependent growth of normal activated T-cells were both strongly inhibited by all the H-31- and anti-Tac-type antibodies, and partially or slightly inhibited by HIEI- and H-A26-type antibodies, but were not inhibited by the H-48 antibody. Thus, the same type of monoclonal antibodies had a similar effect on the function of IL-2R. These results suggest that epitopes for the same type of antibodies could be single identical epitopes or epitopes closely associated with each other. On the other hand, these antibodies also reacted variously with a panel of various human and simian lymphoid cell lines immortalized with human T-cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-I): the H-45 antibody reacted only with the human cell lines, the H-Cl and H-44 and H-47 antibodies reacted with human and ape cell lines, and the other antibodies reacted with cell lines of humans, apes and Old and New World monkeys. These differences in the reactivity of the antibodies with the primate cell lines suggest that the antigenic structure of the IL-2R molecule changed during evolutionary divergence of the primates.

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