| Abstract: | The reactions of human sera with antigens prepared from five human lymphoid cell lines were studied by immunodiffusion. Two major precipitation lines occurred with QIMR-WIL antigens; one (S line) due to a soluble antigen and the other (F line) due to a sedimentable antigen. A close association in human sera of precipitins producing the S line with antibody to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) detectable by immunofluorescence (Henle test) and by complement fixation (CF) tests indicated a specific association of the S line with EBV, but the nature of the F line was not clarified. Soluble antigens prepared from five lymphoid cell lines (including Raji) contained at least one common identical heat-resistant component, defined as the antigen giving the S line. The ease of detection of the S antigen in cell lines by immunodiffusion appeared to be related to the titre of the soluble EBV-associated CF antigen, and the evidence suggested that the soluble CF and ID antigens were probably identical. |
