ELEMENTARY BODIES OF VACCINIA FROM INFECTED CHORIO-ALLANTOIC MEMBRANES OF DEVELOPING CHICK EMBRYOS

SOME CONSTITUENTS OF ELEMENTARY BODIES OF VACCINIA

Treatment of elementary bodies of vaccinia with dilute solutions of sodium hydroxide resulted in the extraction of certain soluble materials accounting for half of the dry weight of the virus. Elementary bodies contained about 0.4 per cent inorganic phosphorus, practically all of which occurred in the form of a nucleoprotein containing thymus nucleic acid. In addition, a substance was recovered that reacted with S antibodies. From past experience one is led to believe that S antigen, as ordinarily encountered, is a protein which is not in combination with nucleic acid.

ULTRACENTRIFUGATION STUDIES ON THE ELEMENTARY BODIES OF VACCINE VIRUS : I. GENERAL METHODS AND DETERMINATION OF PARTICLE SIZE

Ultracentrifugal studies on the CL dermal strain of vaccine virus indicate the following characteristics of the elementary bodies:— 1. A stable suspension of Paschen bodies in a dilute buffer solution of pH 6.2 to 8 sediments with the formation of a characteristic primary boundary which consistently shows a spread of approximately 14 per cent. 2. The principal sedimentation boundary is accompanied frequently by one or several more rapidly moving boundaries which probably are produced by groups of agglutinated elementary bodies consisting of two or more particles. 3. Occasionally the principal boundary may exhibit an irregular or peculiar behavior, a fact which necessitates a careful selection of material and the performance of many experiments for accurate interpretation of results. 4. The sedimentation constant of the slowest moving particles forming the principal boundary is computed to be 49.1 x 10^–11 cm./sec./dyne. On the basis of this sedimentation rate, the average diameter of the smallest virus particles in appreciable amounts is estimated at 236 mµ. If the boundary spread is due principally to slight differences in particle size, then the largest single elementary bodies are approximately 252 mµ in diameter.

A SOLUBLE ANTIGEN OF LYMPHOCYTIC CHORIOMENINGITIS : I. SEPARATION OF SOLUBLE ANTIGEN FROM VIRUS

The virus of lymphocytic choriomeningitis can be sedimented in the ultracentrifuge and washed repeatedly; the virus retains its activity provided that a small amount of normal serum is present in the diluent. A soluble substance capable of fixing complement in the presence of immune serum can be separated from the virus. Washed virus fixes complement poorly. The serologically specific soluble antigen is widely distributed in tissues of infected guinea pigs, mice, and monkeys.