title: The repertoire of antibodies to a hapten group in an inbred strain of mouse.
abstract: We have investigated the diversity of antibodies to the p-azophenylarsonate (Ar) hapten group in the A strain of mouse. The method used consisted of suppressing an idiotype which commonly is observed in the anti-Ar antibodies of all this strain, and then generating anti-idiotypic antisera against the anti-Ar antibodies (lacking the cross-reactive idiotype) which arose after hyperimmunization of the suppressed mice. Anti-idiotypic antibodies prepared against these anti-Ar antibodies were used as a tool to investigate the frequency of recurrence of individual idiotypes in other mice of the same strain. A highly sensitive radioimmunoassay indicated that 3 of the 4 idiotypes studied were virtually undetectable in a panel of 181 A/J mice immunized against the phenylarsonate hapten. A fourth idiotype was found but at very low frequency. The results emphasize the enormous diversity of the immune response to a single hapten group within a strain of mouse. They are interpreted on the basis of hypothesis that the diversity arises through a random series of somatic events. The common cross-reactive idiotype, which is present in the anti-Ar antibodies of all normal A/J mice, is postulated to be the product of a germ-line gene which is closely related to a germ-line gene through a small number of somatic mutations which takes place in every A/J mouse.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000276:immunology*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D000939:Epitopes; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007525:Isoelectric Focusing; D051379:Mice; D008805:Mice, Inbred A / Q000276:immunology*; D009154:Mutation; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods; D011869:Radioligand Assay / Q000379:methods; D011897:Random Allocation; D010132:p-Azobenzenearsonate / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D000939:Epitopes; D007106:Immune Sera; D010132:p-Azobenzenearsonate