INTERACTIONS OF MACROPHAGES AND ERYTHROCYTES: SOME FURTHER EXPERIMENTS

Abstract

Experiments are described which show that effete red cells will not adhere to autochthonous macrophages which have been treated with trypsin. If, following trypsin treatment, the macrophages are incubated in the presence of normal guinea-pig serum, activity is restored and the adherence reaction with effete red cells can again be demonstrated. Activity is not restored by incubation with Hanks's solution following trypsin treatment. These results suggest that the adherence reaction is mediated by a component of normal guinea-pig serum which becomes adsorbed to the macrophage surface. Evidence is presented suggesting that the linkage between the serum component and the macrophage surface is protein in nature. The active component is removed from guinea-pig serum by absorption with effete red cells.