Multiple mouse-protective antibodies directed against group B streptococci. Special reference to antibodies effective against protein antigens.

Abstract

The data presented in this paper establish the finding that multiple specific protective antibodies exist in rabbits in response to immunization with Group B streptococci. The summary in Table I indicates the serological types into which Group B streptococci have been divided on the basis of their antigenic composition. This classification is dependent upon passive protection of mice with antibodies directed against the specific antigens, and types are defined in these terms. Heretofore, it was thought that type-specific polysaccharides accounted for all such protection in Group B streptococci. Certain exceptions of cross-protection between types due to minor polysaccharide determinants soon appeared; cross-protection reactions based on protein determinants in at least two types were also discovered. The present experiments show that specific antibodies directed to either polysaccharide or protein antigens of a single strain can be protective against infection with streptococci containing these antigens.