The influence of lens antibodies on the development of lens antigen-containing tissues in the chick embryo.

W H E N Guyer & Smith (1918, 1924) subjected pregnant rabbits to active and passive immunization with lens proteins, it was noted that a high percentage of the new-born showed lens anomalies and other ocular changes such as microphthalmia and coloboma of the iris. Though these experiments seem to indicate that antibodies circulating in the maternal circulation may interfere with embryonic development, the results of this work have subsequently been questioned, since neither Finlay (1924), Huxley & Carr-Saunders (1924), nor Flickinger, Levi, & Smith (1955) were able to produce any eye abnormalities with lens antibodies. Recently, it has again been suggested, that tissue antibodies may cause congenital defects based on antigen-antibody interaction in the developing embryo (Brent, Averich, & Drapiewski, 1961; Gluecksohn-Waelsch, 1957; Miller, 1958; Barber, Willis, & Afeman, 1961). Careful analysis of this work, however, shows that in some experiments the actual presence of circulating antibodies has not been proven, while in others degeneration and abnormalities were found in organs which do not contain antigenic components corresponding to the circulating antibodies at any stage during their development. It is thus evident that the results obtained in these experiments are difficult to explain in a logical manner. In our opinion, a better understanding of congenital anomalies based on an antigen-antibody interaction in the embryo will only be achieved when precise information on three crucial points is available: (a) presence and localization of the antigenic components in the embryo during the antibody treatment; (b) specificity and concentration of the antibodies; and (c) site and mechanism of the antigen-antibody interaction. In view of the amount of information available on the presence and distribution of lens antigens in the eye of the chick embryo,