Biology of Marek’s Disease Virus and the Herpesvirus of Turkeys

Demonstration of immunoglobulin m on avian lymphoid leukosis lymphoma cells by the unlabelled antibody peroxidase‐antiperoxidase method

“…In view of previous findings that the predominance of IgM-bearing B-lymphocytes in lymphomas is evidence for LL and the predominance of T-lymphocytes and the presence of MATSA on lymphomas is evidence for MD (Hudson and Payne, 1973;Rouse et al, 1973;Cooper et al, 1974;Payne andRennie, 1975,1976;Neumann and Witter, 1979a,b), the demonstration of the absence of IgM-bearing cells in imprints and paraffin sections of tumourous lesions is a strong indirect evidence for their MD virus origin since this is the most frequent tumourous condition of the chick. In this case, however, additional histological examinations and/or demonstration of the presence of MATSA and the predominance of T-lymphocytes on the suspect lymphomas are required for certainty (Neumann and Witter, 1979b).…”

“…It is well known that successful demonstration of cellular antigens in tissues by any immunohistochemical method depends upon the presence of substantial amount of specific antigens (Brandtzaeg, 1982). MATSA has been reported to be present on only a minor and widely varying proportion of lymphoma cells Neumann and Witter, 1979a,b;Payne, 1982;Calnek, 1986). Due to its low antigenic mass, MATSA binds very few antibody molecules so that its direct detection at the low frequency present on tissue imprints or sections of the suspect tumours is difficult.…”

“…It is probable that as a consequence of the procedure used MATSA was largely lost or the number of its immunoreactive sites was reduced to a level not detectable by the PAP method. Antigenic dissimilarities of MATSAs induced by different strains of MD virus (Payne, 1982;Kato and Hirai, 1985;Calnek, 1986) and the inadequate potency of our antiserum may also play a role.…”

“…MD lymphomas consist mainly of T-cells with only a small population of B-cells (Hudson and Payne, 1973;Rouse et al, 1973;Payne et al, 1974;Payne and Rennie, 1976). A limited proportion of lymphoma cells carries Marek's disease tumour-associated surface antigen (MATSA) and other antigens on their surface (for review, see, Payne, 1982;Kato and Hirai, 1985;Calnek, 1986). All lymphoblastoid cell lines established from MD lymphomas of chickens consist entirely of MATSA-bearing T-cells.…”

“…All lymphoblastoid cell lines established from MD lymphomas of chickens consist entirely of MATSA-bearing T-cells. These are believed to be the neoplastic lymphoid cell component of the lymphoma occurring in vivo (Payne, 1982;Kato and Hirai, 1985;Calnek, 1986).…”