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Molecular Restriction of Anti-DNP Antibodies Induced by Dinitrophenylated Type III Pneumococcus¹

From the Department of Microbiology and Center for Oral Health Research, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 and Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, National Institute for Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014

Abstract

Rabbits were hyperimmunized with -DNP-lysine covalently coupled to type III encapsulated pneumococci (DNP-Pn vaccine). After a preimmunization with pneumococcal vaccine followed by immunization with DNP-Pn vaccine, 11 of 13 rabbits produced anti-DNP antibodies with titers ranging from 0.28 to 1.30 mg/ml. The affinities of the anti-DNP antibodies were low (10⁵ liters/mole). The molecular heterogeneity of 7 of the 11 responding rabbits, as determined by isoelectric focusing, was markedly reduced. Upon continued immunization some rabbits maintained or increased their restriction while others exhibited a loss of restriction and evidence of molecular heterogeneity. Although titers and heterogeneity generally increased during prolonged immunization, association constants for the anti-DNP antibodies remained in the range of 10⁵ liters/mole. The present experiments indicate that a bacterial carrier can have a marked effect on the structural complexity of anti-DNP antibodies and provide a new means of obtaining structurally restricted anti-hapten antibodies.

Footnotes

¹ This research was supported in part by United States Public Health Service Grant DE-02623. A portion of this work was presented at the 1972 FASEB meeting, Atlantic City, New Jersey.