A new symmetry: A anti-B is anti-(B anti-A), and reverse enhancement.
Immune system network theory leads to a new symmetry, namely that the antibodies produced in an allogeneic A anti-B immune response (where A and B are, say, two different mouse strains), should have complementary shapes to the antibodies in a B anti-A response. That is, A anti-B is anti-(B anti-A). This symmetry is due to the existence of two readily separable populations of antibodies that are present in alloantisera: anti-foreign and anti-anti-self antibodies. The theoretical basis for the symmetry is described, and results indicating the presence of anti-anti-self antibodies in each of 12 alloantisera (six made in B10-congenic strains, and six made with the unrelated chains CBA, SJL, and C57BL/6) are reported. The finding that hyperimmune alloantisera routinely contain anti-anti-self antibodies suggests that network regulation plays an important role in maintaining self-tolerance during responses to allogeneic cells. We further show that A anti-B serum absorbed against B can specifically prolong the survival of A grafts in a B strain animal. We suggest that this result can be interpreted as being due to A anti-(B anti-A) antibodies preventing B anti-A cells from rejecting the A grafts. We call this phenomenon "reverse enhancement" because it involves the converse antiserum to that used in conventional enhancement of graft survival by specific antibodies.
D000818:Animals; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D003429:Cross Reactions; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D005838:Genotype; D006183:H-2 Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000528:radiation effects; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D013045:Species Specificity
D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum; D006183:H-2 Antigens