title: Regulation of azophenylarsonate-specific repertoire expression. 1. Frequency of cross-reactive idiotype-positive B cells in A/J and BALB/c mice.
abstract: A large proportion of p-azophenylarsonate (ARS)-specific antibodies from A/J mice share a cross-reactive idiotype (CRIA) that comprises a family of closely related but nonidentical clonotypes. I determined that only 2.6 % (7 out of 267) A/J ARS-specific monoclonal antibodies generated in the splenic focus system possess the predominant CRIA. Because ARS-specific B cells are present at a frequency of 1/68,000 B cells, the frequency of the entire idiotype family is 1 per 2.8 X 10(6) splenic B cells. Thus, there is a striking discrepancy between the representation of this idiotype at the clonal precursor cell level and the serum antibody response. In addition, BALB/c mice have the potential to generate CRIA-positive precursor cells within their nonimmune repertoire. When A/J mice are immunized with ARS-protein conjugates, the serum antibody response and precursor cell population are both dominated by CRIA. The frequency of CRIA-positive B cells increases over 100-fold after immunization, whereas CRIA-negative precursor cells may initially decrease, followed by a later rise in frequency. Finally, although ARS-specific precursor cells are present in high frequency at birth, CRIA-positive monoclonal anti-ARS antibodies are not observed during the early neonatal period. These data provide evidence to suggest that complex regulatory networks influence precursor cell and serum antibody expression.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000276:immunology; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008805:Mice, Inbred A / Q000276:immunology; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C / Q000276:immunology; D010132:p-Azobenzenearsonate / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001391:Azo Compounds; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes; D010132:p-Azobenzenearsonate