T-cell activation by anti-idiotypic antibody: evidence for the internal image.
Human lymphoproliferative responses to a rabbit anti-idiotypic antibody (anti-Id TB71) and the corresponding mycobacterial protein antigen [38,000 molecular weight (MW)] have been investigated in a number of donors. It was found that responsiveness to anti-Id TB71 correlated with responder and non-responder (four subjects each) status to the 38,000 MW antigen. Furthermore, the induction of T-cell proliferation by both the 38,000 MW antigen and the anti-Id TB71 was dependent on accessory cells. When taken together with the concordance between the 38,000 MW antigen and anti-Id responsiveness, this implies that the 38,000 MW antigen and anti-Id TB71 stimulate related, or at least partially overlapping, repertoires of T cells. This was confirmed by the finding that cloned T cells reactive with the 38,000 MW antigen also proliferated in response to the anti-Id TB71. These observations are readily explained if the anti-idiotypic antibody contains an internal image of, and can therefore mimic, the antigen.
D000818:Animals; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000276:immunology*; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology; D011817:Rabbits; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes