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Immunogenicity of Fab Fragment of Protein-315 for BALB/c Mice^1,2,

From the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 4, Thailand

Abstract

Immunogenicity of Protein-315 and its Fab fragment (Fab-315) for isologous and heterologous strains of mice was investigated by comparing the characteristics of the anti-idiotypic response produced in BALB/c and A/J mice. The ability of these anti-idiotypic antisera to compete with DNP-lys for the ligand-binding site of Protein-315 were analyzed by comparing their hapten inhibition curves.

The anti-idiotypic responses of BALB/c mice to Protein-315 and to Fab-315 were similar to one another with regard to antibody specificity and sensitivity to inhibition by hapten, suggesting that both forms were equally immunogenic in inbred BALB/c mice. This observation indicates that the Fc portion of Protein-315 is not essential for the induction of anti-idiotypic response. Both BALB/c and A/J mice recognized the same antigenic determinants on Fab-315 since the anti-idiotypic antibodies produced by these animals were indistinguishable with regard to their interaction with Protein-315, Fv-315, and sensitivity to hapten inhibition.

On the other hand, the response of A/J mice to Protein-315 was remarkably different from that of BALB/c mice since it was found that Protein-315 seemed to be more immunogenic in A/J mice than in BALB/c mice. The data also indicated that Protein-315 was more immunogenic than Fab-315 in stimulating the anti-idiotypic response in A/J mice. A/J antiserum to Protein-315 was found to have antibodies specific for the ligand-binding site as well as those specific for other antigenic determinations on the Fc portion. These findings suggest that the Fc portion of Protein-315 may either act as a haptenic determinant to provoke directly the antibody response or as a carrier determinant to enhance the anti-Fab response in A/J mice.

Footnotes

¹ This investigation was supported in part by the Rockefeller Foundation.

² A portion of this study was submitted by Rachaneepas Tungkanak to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

³ To whom all correspondence and reprint requests should be made.