Antibodies to intestinal microvillous membranes. I. Characterization and morphologic localization.

Antibodies (AbMVM) were produced in rabbits to microvillous membranes isolated from hamster small bowel. Incubation of frozen sections of hamster small bowel with fluorescein-labeled AbMVM showed specific reaction with brush borders, but not with other intestinal cellular components. Electron microscopy with ferritin-conjugated AbMVM localized the antigens more precisely to the surface mucopolysaccharide coat of the brush borders. AbMVM also reacted with the brush border of colon and of proximal renal tubules of hamsters but not with those of hamster stomach or gall bladder. It also reacted with the brush borders of some rat and human tissues, but not with those of rabbits. In addition, fluorescent-labeled AbMVM combined specifically with cell walls of some yeasts, but not of several bacteria. AbMVM also contained a weak precipitin to a component of hamster serum, which migrated like prealbumin in immunoelectrophoresis.