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The Clonal Nature of Antibody Formation

II. Characteristics of Antibody Cell Clones Specific for Poly-O-Acetyl- D-Serine and Poly- D-Alanine¹

From The Institute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111

Abstract

Clonal antibody responses to the haptens, poly-d-alanine (poly-ala) or poly-O-acetyl-d-serine (poly-ser), were produced in lethally-irradiated mice after the injection of limiting numbers of mouse spleen cells and protein-hapten immunogens. Syngeneic F₁-hybrid mice permitted the use of antibody allotypes as genetic markers. Allotype markers together with the aid of Poisson statistics enabled us to identify mice whose spleens contained antibody-forming progeny of only one or two hapten-specific precursor cells (antibody cell clones). The results obtained indicated that poly-ala or poly-ser haptens were able to stimulate only about one in 10⁸ spleen cells to form antibody cell clones of a given allotype; that regardless of antibody specificity or allotype, the relative size of most antibody cell clones was limited to 2¹² to 2¹⁴ cell divisions; and that most antibody cell clones which shared specificity for the same hapten could be inhibited differentially with hapten analogues.

Footnotes

¹ This work was supported by United States Public Health Service Grants CA-04946, CA-06927 and RR-05539 from the National Institutes of Health and by an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennyslvania.

² Mice received 850 R from an x-ray therapy machine (Saunders, Chicago, Ill.) under the following conditions: 200 kv; 20 mA; inherent filtration, 1 mm Al, added filtration, none; half-value layer, 0.5 mm Cu; dose rates, 40 to 45 R/min.