Fowl antibody. X. The purification and properties of an antibody to the 2,4-dinitrophenyl group.

A preparation of fowl antibody to the 2,4-dinitrophenyl group (DNP), made from antisera to DNP-bovine γ-globulin by dissociation of a specific precipitate, was more than 90 per cent precipitable by DNP-ovalbumin. This antibody with an approximate molecular weight of 165,000 and the immunoelectrophoretic properties of γG-globulin, precipitated with antigen only in 8 per cent NaCl. It fixed fowl complement, but did not agglutinate tanned fowl red cells coated with DNP-protein. It had no skin sensitizing activity. Its amino acid composition was significantly different from that of mammalian antibodies. Some of the properties of another DNP-specific antibody that appeared later in immunization are also described.