March 25, 1942
Dr. Warren Weaver
Rockefeller Foundation
49 West 49th Street
New York, New York
Dear Warren:
I submit this letter to you as a brief report on the work which my collaborators and
I have been doing this year on problems of immunochemistry with the support of the
grant which you made us last year, and an application for an additional sum for the
coming year to speed up our work along one particular line.
During the period since July 1, 1941, work in immunochemistry has been carried on
by Dr. Dan H. Campbell, Dr. David Pressman, Mr. Carol Ikeda, Mr. Stanley Swingle,
and other assistants and students. A number of interesting results have been obtained,
and several papers describing them have been or are being submitted for publication.
One field in which a large amount of work has been done is the study of precipitation
reactions between antibodies and simple chemical substances containing two or more
haptenic groups. It was observed by Landsteiner and van der Scheer that certain
azo dyes gave precipitates with antisera. I interpreted this observation as evidence
for the framework theory of precipitates. In order to test this we prepared a large
number of substances containing one or more phenylarsonic groups in the molecule.
We found that all of the substances with two or more of these groups in a molecule
gave precipitates with antisera made with use of azo proteins containing the phenylarsonic
acid group, whereas the substances with only one group per molecule did not precipitate.
Quantitative analytical data were obtained for the precipitates, giving strong support
to the framework theory and also providing evidence that antibodies are bivalent.
Some preliminary results of this nature were described in a publication in the Proceedings
of the National Academy, and a detailed account of the work is to be published in
three papers in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
A technique has been developed whereby diazotized amines can be coupled with red blood
cells without destroying the cells. Using this technique a number of investigations
have been carried on to obtain information regarding the nature of the agglutination
reaction. An account of some of these results is being published in the Journal
of Immunology.
The most interesting results obtained are those dealing with the manufacture of antibodies
in vitro. It has been found possible to convert a normal protein solution into a
solution with the properties of an animal antiserum to a specific antigen. A representative
experiment is that in which a solution containing 1 per cent of pneumococcus polysaccharide
Type III and 1 per cent of bovine gamma globulin was heated at 57° for two weeks.
At the end of this treatment the solution was found to precipitate pneumococcus Type
III polysaccharide, and not Type I and VIII, and it also was found to agglutinate
Type III pneumococcy and not Type I or II. A purified protein solution obtained
by removing the polysaccharides was found to have the same properties of a specific
antiserum to Type III pneumococcus polysaccharide.
Our results indicate that our general method may be used to prepare an antiserum in
the laboratory toward antigens of varied types, including those for which animal antisera
are not available. We are planning to carry on experiments using toxin, viruses,
bacteria, and other antigens. An interesting possibility is the use of human globulin
as the protein from which to manufacture antisera, thus eliminating the danger of
serum sickness.
I think that there exists a reasonable possibility that antisera of value in the protection
against and treatment of disease may be made by our technique. In order that the
investigation of this possibility may be carried out without delay, I respectfully
apply for an additional grant of money from your Foundation, for the period July 1,
1942 to June 30. 1943. I propose that our general program of experiment on the nature
of immunological phenomena be continued with the support of the grant of $11,000.00
previously made, and that an intensive investigation of our new technique, especially
with respect to its practical application, be supported by an additional grant of
$20,000.00. This would cover the salaries of about three men trained in immunology
or bacteriology and about three assistants, and the expense of chemicals, apparatus,
and experimental animals. Although the Gates and Crellin Laboratories are becoming
rather crowded because of the defense projects being carried out here, there is still
room to take care of this expanded research program in immunology.
Because of the generality of the new method of making antibodies in vitro, I have
some confidence that the proposed program will lead to interesting results.
Sincerely yours,
Linus Pauling
LP:jr
