Immunological relationships among hexosaminidases of different species

The immunological inter-relationship between hexosaminidases of several mammals were established. Qualitative immunochemical analysis indicated similarity between the enzymes derived from man, Rhesus monkey, Iris maccaque, bovine, pig, goat and guinea-pig. Quantitation of the extent of antigenic similarity among the various species, using antigen binding assay and radioimmunoassay, correlated well with the phylogenetic relationships between the species investigated. The evolutionary distance between the species used as sources of enzyme and the immunized animal effects the capacity to distinguish between closely related enzymes. Thus, the use of closer animals for immunization enables the detection of subtle differences between the tested enzymes, whereas a phylogenetically remote animal recognizes better their similarity.