116 IMMUNO-CATALYSIS 



conclusively that these specificities are inherent in the reactions in- 

 volved in their synthesis. It is difficult to conceive that a master 

 proteinogen molecule can contain hundreds or thousands of speci- 

 ficities, and the cells of each organ or specialized structure of the body 

 must all contain the same proteinogen molecule. Our existing knowl- 

 edge does not lend any support to these assumptions. 



e. Does Antigen Function as Coenzyme in the Production of 

 Antibody.'* Northrop applies the proteinogen concept to the production 

 of highly specific antibody proteins. He is of the opinion that antibodies 

 are formed in a manner comparable to the formation of "adaptive 

 enzymes." We have already discussed this process and concluded that 

 it does not involve the synthesis of a new protein. The formation of an 

 antibody, on the other hand, is a synthesis of a new protein as will be 

 discussed below. What is more surprising is the analogy drawn between 

 an antigen and a coenzyme; the former in the role of the latter is sup- 

 posed to be capable of autocatalytically modifying serum proteins so 

 that an antibody, instead of the normal serum protein, is formed. The 

 hypothetical implications of the experiments of Pauling and Campbell 

 (1942) may have been held in view in making this postulate. These 

 authors reported the manufacture of "antibody" in vitro from denatured 

 serum globulin in the presence of certain haptens. The claimed "anti- 

 body" formed a precipitate with haptenic agent. 



There is no doubt that such an observation with great potentialities 

 has been the object of many unsuccessful experiments in various 

 laboratories, but only few have published their findings. In similar 

 experiments, Haurowitz et ah (1946) found that the precipitates 

 obtained in such experiments are not due to the effect of antibodies but 

 are brought about by the non-specific flocculation of globulins charged 

 positively at pH 5.0 to 5.5 by negatively charged azoproteins. Kuzin 

 and Nervaeva (1947) could not detect the formation in vitro, using 

 the method of Pauling and Campbell, of antibody to- polysaccharides 

 from Type III pneumococcus, gum arable, Shigella dysenteriae, S. 

 foradysenteriae Flexner, and Stre'ptococcus hemolyticus. Also, no 

 antibodies were observed in solutions against dye haptens. Similarly, no 

 antitoxin formation was observed during the dehydration of serum 

 proteins in the presence of the toxin from Corynehacterium diph- 

 theriae. 



In an earlier section of this work, we arrived at the conclusion that 



