24 FELIX HAUROWITZ 



jected into sensitized animals are incorporated very rapidly into the antibody 

 molecules (Humphrey and McFarlane, 1954). 



If all these ideas about formation of antibodies are accepted, the question 

 may be raised, "What happens if there is no antigen present? What happens 

 in normal cells? Are the normal gamma-globulins of the serum complementarily 

 adjusted to some normal templates?" The answer is not quite simple. First, 

 we do not know whether there is anything like a normal gamma-globulin. We 

 know that the blood serum of new-born animals is either devoid of or very 

 poor in gamma-globulins. It is quite possible that all gamma-globulins are 

 formed in response to some foreign material entering the body through the 

 mucosa of the gasto-intestinal or the respiratory tract. If this is so, then all 

 gamma-globulins are antibodies. However, we are not forced to make this 

 assumption. It is quite possible that globulin formation, quite generally, takes 

 place in two phases, as outlined above, and that the normal blood serum pro- 

 teins, albumins as well as globulins, are complementarily adjusted to some 

 cellular constituent which acts as a template. Tyler (1948), who proposed 

 similar views, called proteins of this type autoantibodies. The possibility has 

 to be considered that all proteins of the globular type are autoantibodies formed 

 under the influence of normal cellular constituents which act as templates. 

 There are some indications that a similar process underlies the phenomenon 

 of enzyme induction. The same phenomenon may be of quite general occur- 

 rence and may thus be responsible for the specificity of proteins and other 

 macromolecules. 



References 



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Breinl, F. and F. Haurowitz. 1930. Chemical investigation of the precipitate from 

 hemoglobin and antihemoglobin-serum and remarks on the nature of the anti- 

 bodies. Z. physiol. Chem. 192: 45-57. 



Burnet, F. M. and F. Fenner. 1949. The Production of Antibodies. 2nd Ed. London. 

 Macmillan and Co. 142 pp. 



Cohn, M. and A. M. Pappenheimer. 1949. A quantitative study of the diphtheria 

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 munol. dJ.- 291-311. 



Crampton, C. F. and F. Haurowitz. 1950. Intracellular distribution in rabbit liver 

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Crampton, C. F., H. H. Reller and F. Haurowitz. 1952. Persistence of 7-C"-anthranil- 

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Ehrlich, P. 1906. Studies on Immunity. (Translated by Charles Bolduan, New York). 



Felton, L. D. 1949. The significance of antigen in animal tissues. J. Immunol. 61: 

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Friedberg, W., H. Walter and F. Haurowitz. 1955a. The fate in rats of heterologous 

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Friedberg, W., H. Walter and F. Haurowitz. 1955b. The rate in fats of internally 

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