Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1981 Apr 1;153(4):968–976. doi: 10.1084/jem.153.4.968

Role of serum IgA. Hepatobiliary transport of circulating antigen

PMCID: PMC2186143  PMID: 7252416

Abstract

The IgA mediated hepatobiliary excretion of antigen from the circulation was studied using a radiolabeled haptenated protein (dinitrophenyl-human serum albumin) injected intravenously in mice together with monoclonal anti-dinitrophenyl antibodies of different immunoglobulin classes. Antibodies were obtained from ascitic fluids of mice bearing the MOPC315 myeloma (IgA), or immune spleen cell hybridomas (IgG and IgM). IgA antibody brought about the transport of large amounts of antigen from the circulation to the bile during 1-3h. Analysis of bile by gel filtration showed that a large part of the transported antigen remained intact and complexed with IgA. Neither IgA of different specificity nor anti-dinitrophenyl IgM medicated biliary transport of antigen. With anti-dinitrophenyl IgG, only small amounts of low molecular weight fragments of labeled antigen were found in he bile. Preformed immune complex of radiolabeled antigen and IgA antibody were rapidly transported from the circulation to the bile, resulting in threefold-higher levels of radioactivity in bile than in serum. It is proposed that an important function of serum IgA is to mediate the hepatobiliary excretion of corresponding circulating antigens.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (562.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BENACERRAF B., SEBESTYEN M., COOPER N. S. The clearance of antigen antibody complexes from the blood by the reticuloendothelial system. J Immunol. 1959 Feb;82(2):131–137. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Becker M., Mäkelä O. Modification of bacteriophage with hapten-epsilon-aminocaproyl-N-hydroxysuccinimide esters; increased sensitivity for immunoassay. Immunochemistry. 1975 Apr;12(4):329–331. doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(75)90184-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brandtzaeg P. Mucosal and glandular distribution of immunoglobulin components. Immunohistochemistry with a cold ethanol-fixation technique. Immunology. 1974 Jun;26(6):1101–1114. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Day J. F., Thornburg R. W., Thorpe S. R., Baynes J. W. Carbohydrate-mediated clearance of antibody . antigen complexes from the circulation. The role of high mannose oligosaccharides in the hepatic uptake of IgM . antigen complexes. J Biol Chem. 1980 Mar 25;255(6):2360–2365. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. EISEN H. N. EQUILIBRIUM DIALYSIS FOR MEASUREMENT OF ANTIBODY-HAPTEN AFFINITIES. Methods Med Res. 1964;10:106–114. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fisher M. M., Nagy B., Bazin H., Underdown B. J. Biliary transport of IgA: role of secretory component. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Apr;76(4):2008–2012. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.4.2008. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Griffiss J. M. Bactericidal activity of meningococcal antisera. Blocking by IgA of lytic antibody in human convalescent sera. J Immunol. 1975 Jun;114(6):1779–1784. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hopf U., Brandtzaeg P., Hütteroth T. H., Meyer zum Büschenfelde K. H. In vivo and in vitro binding of IgA to the plasma membrane of hepatocytes. Scand J Immunol. 1978;8(6):543–549. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1978.tb00554.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Huber H., Douglas S. D., Fudenberg H. H. The IgG receptor: an immunological marker for the characterization of mononuclear cells. Immunology. 1969 Jul;17(1):7–21. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jackson G. D., Lemaître-Coelho I., Vaerman J. P., Bazin H., Beckers A. Rapid disappearance from serum of intravenously injected rat myeloma IgA and its secretion into bile. Eur J Immunol. 1978 Feb;8(2):123–126. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830080210. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jaffe B. M., Eisen H. N., Simms E. S., Potter M. Myeloma proteins with anti-hapten antibody activity: epsilon-2,4-dinitrophenyl lysine binding by the protein produced by mouse plasmacytoma MOPC-460. J Immunol. 1969 Oct;103(4):872–874. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kearney J. F., Radbruch A., Liesegang B., Rajewsky K. A new mouse myeloma cell line that has lost immunoglobulin expression but permits the construction of antibody-secreting hybrid cell lines. J Immunol. 1979 Oct;123(4):1548–1550. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kessler S. W. Rapid isolation of antigens from cells with a staphylococcal protein A-antibody adsorbent: parameters of the interaction of antibody-antigen complexes with protein A. J Immunol. 1975 Dec;115(6):1617–1624. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Marchalonis J. J. An enzymic method for the trace iodination of immunoglobulins and other proteins. Biochem J. 1969 Jun;113(2):299–305. doi: 10.1042/bj1130299. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Orlans E., Peppard J., Fry J. F., Hinton R. H., Mullock B. M. Secretory component as the receptor for polymeric IgA on rat hepatocytes. J Exp Med. 1979 Dec 1;150(6):1577–1581. doi: 10.1084/jem.150.6.1577. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Orlans E., Peppard J., Reynolds J., Hall J. Rapid active transport of immunoglobulin A from blood to bile. J Exp Med. 1978 Feb 1;147(2):588–592. doi: 10.1084/jem.147.2.588. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Socken D. J., Jeejeebhoy K. N., Bazin H., Underdown B. J. Identification of secretory component as an IgA receptor on rat hepatocytes. J Exp Med. 1979 Dec 1;150(6):1538–1548. doi: 10.1084/jem.150.6.1538. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Stokes C. R., Swarbrick E. T., Soothill J. F. Immune elimination and enhanced antibody responses: functions of circulating IgA. Immunology. 1980 Jul;40(3):455–458. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Triger D. R., Cynamon M. H., Wright R. Studies on hepatic uptake of antigen. I. Comparison of inferior vena cava and portal vein routes of immunization. Immunology. 1973 Dec;25(6):941–950. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Van Epps D. E., Williams R. C., Jr Suppression of leukocyte chemotaxis by human IgA myeloma components. J Exp Med. 1976 Nov 2;144(5):1227–1242. doi: 10.1084/jem.144.5.1227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wilton J. M. Suppression by IgA of IgG-mediated phagocytosis by human polymorphonuclear leucocytes. Clin Exp Immunol. 1978 Dec;34(3):423–428. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES