Hybrid antibody-induced topographical redistribution of surface immunoglobulins, alloantigens, and concanavalin A receptors on mouse lymphoid cells.

Redistribution of surface immunoglobulins, H-2(b), Thy-1.2, and TL.1,2,3 alloantigens, and concanavalin A receptors on mouse lymphoid cells induced by hybrid rabbit F(ab')(2) antibody (anti-mouse immunoglobulin/anti-visual marker or anti-concanavalin A/anti-visual marker) was studied by immunofluorescence. When used directly to label surface immunoglobulin, and indirectly to label alloantigens and concanavalin A receptors, hybrid antibodies induced similar displacement of all surface components from a uniform distribution into "patches" and "caps" at 37 degrees . One hybrid antibody preparation, antimouse immunoglobulin/anti-ferritin, contained negligible amounts of bivalent anti-mouse immunoglobulin antibody, and was therefore "monovalent" for the antimouse immunoglobulin specificity. This observation suggests that factors other than multivalent crosslinking are responsible for hybrid antibody-induced redistribution of cell-surface components. Cap formation induced by hybrid antibody was enhanced markedly by attachment of the visual marker, either ferritin or southern bean mosaic virus, at 37 degrees . At -5 degrees , hybrid antibody does not displace uniformly distributed H-2(b) alloantigen-alloantibody complexes, but patches of label develop when ferritin attaches to the hybrid antibody. These results explain the patchy distribution of cell-surface components, which is a temperature-independent characteristic of labeling with hybrid antibodies and visual markers for electron microscopy.