Preparation and Evaluation of Polystyrene–antigen Conjugates for the Isolation of Antibodies

Antigenically specific adsorbents were prepared by coupling soluble protein antigens to a polystyrene-supporting medium by azo bonds. These immunosorbents were shown to combine specifically with homologous precipitating rabbit antibodies. Elution of precipitating antibodies from the immunosorbents was achieved by dissociation with hydrochloric acid at pH 3. Under optimal conditions 35% of the antibodies removed from the antisera were recovered with a purity of over 80%. Electrophoretic analyses showed that precipitating rabbit antibodies were localized primarily in the region of gamma-globulins. The heterogeneity of the antigen–antibody systems studied was demonstrated by a combination of immunochemical, physicochemical, and radioactive tracer methods.