Serum Alpha Globulin Fraction: Survival-and-Recovery Effect in Irradiated Mice
M. G. Hanna Jr. 1,
P. Nettesheim 1,
W. D. Fisher 1,
Leona C. Peters 1, and
Mary W. Francis 1
1 Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
An alpha macroglobulin fraction (19S) was isolated from the serum of rats and BC3F1 mice by zonal ultracentrifugation. Both the isologous and heterologous macroglobulin fractions increased survival among BC3F1 mice x-irradiated with 750 roentgens. The mouse macroglobulin fraction also enhanced radiation recovery of hematopoietic tissue as measured by colony-forming assay and iron-59 incorporation into erythropoietic cells. The overall difference in hematopoietic activity in the irradiated (400 roentgens) mice treated with the macroglobulin fraction, in comparison with this activity in the controls, was three- to fivefold in the bone marrow and nine- to tenfold in the spleen between days 4 and 7 after irradiation. This effect was not obtained with the isologous serum protein fraction containing proteins of smaller molecular weight.
