The production of rabbit antibodies to sporidesmin

Authors: Jonas WE, Ronaldson JW
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 22, Issue 7, pp 111-116, Jul 1974
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Laboratory animal, Livestock, Rabbit
Subject Terms: Inflammation, Integument/skin/wool/hair/fur/feather, Disease/defect, Mycotoxicosis, Liver/hepatic disease, Fungal/yeast, Immune system/immunology, Photosensitivity, Toxicology
Article class: Scientific Article

---

Abstract: Sporidesmin, the causative agent of facial eczema, is a low molecular weight (473) hepatotoxin produced by the fungus Pithomyces chartarum. Being a small molecule, it is unlikely that sporidesmin would be capable, by itself, of inducing an antiboldy response in an animal. However, an antiboldy response can often be produced against a low molecular weight molecule, provided that the molecule is covalently coupled to a protein with a molecular weight of approximately 10 000 or greater. The work reported in this paper is part of an investigation concerning the possibility of controlling facial eczema by vaccination. The results presented show that a sporidesmin-poly-L-lysine complex when injected into some rabbits resulted in an antibody response to sporidesmin. The sporidesmin-poly-L-lysine complex was prepared by breaking the disulphide bridge across the dioxopiperazine ring of sporidesmin, alkylating the sulphydryl groups and then reacting this complex with the ε-amino groups of poly-y-L-lysine.

---