The enhancement of antibody response by IgM antibodies is dependent on antigen-specific T helper cells.
The enhancement of antibody responses by IgM antibodies administered with low doses of antigen has been studied in a T-dependent (SRBC) and an T-independent (alpha 1,6 dextran) system. It has been found that IgM anti-SRBC antibodies do not enhance a SRBC response in nude mice. The T-cell dependency was also directly demonstrated by showing the effect of IgM on T-cell priming in transfer experiments. The simultaneous injection of antigen and IgM antibody also induced a polyclonal increase of IgM, PFC, which was not due to a non-specific "adjuvant" effect of IgM, as we could not detect a similar effect on an ongoing response to HRBC in mice simultaneously given SRBC and IgM anti-SRBC antibodies. The specificity of the helper cell for either the antibody or the antigen was investigated in a response to alpha 1, 6 dextran, in which we could demonstrate antibody-specific helper T cells, but no antigen-specific help. We have found that IgM anti-dextran antibodies do not enhance and rather suppress the response of normal, high-responder mice, to dextran, suggesting that the T cells mediating the "19S enhancement" are antigen-specific. The magnitude of the enhancement response, as compared to the responses induced by either antigen or antibody alone, implies a synergistic mechanism, possibly involving antigen-specific and antibody(idiotype)-specific T helper cells.
D000818:Animals; D000921:Antibody-Producing Cells / Q000276:immunology; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D000939:Epitopes; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology; D006462:Hemolytic Plaque Technique; D006736:Horses; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008819:Mice, Nude; D012756:Sheep; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D000939:Epitopes; D007075:Immunoglobulin M