Serologic and immunochemical characterization of HLA-A9 xenoantisera

The specificity of A9 antiserum produced in rabbits immunized with high density lipoprotein-associated HLA-A9 from serum was investigated by using serologic and immunochemical approaches. After suitable absorption, the xenoantiserum No. 2958 is monospecific for A9 antigens in the direct cytotoxic test. Data from lysostrip experiments and from blocking of cytotoxicity with Fab ₂ fragments indicate that the A9 xenoantiserum No. 2958 reacts with the same or closely associated antigenic structures recognized by A9 alloantisera. Immunoprecipitates obtained with the specific xenoantiserum No. 2958 and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis contained only proteins of the size of detergent-solubilized HLA and β ₂-microglobulin (45,000 and 12,000 m.w.). Immunodepletion experiments indicated that the precipitation was mediated by antibodies directed to the heavy chain, and not the light chain of the complex. These results indicate that monospecific HLA-A9 xenoantisera have the same discriminatory capacity of alloantisera and can be useful for the serologic and immunochemical characterization of HLA antigens.