title: Unexpectedly high occurrence of catalytic antibodies in MRL/lpr and SJL mice immunized with a transition-state analog: is there a linkage to autoimmunity?
abstract: Upon testing the ability of several strains of mice to elicit esterolytic antibodies after immunization with a p-nitrobenzyl phosphonate hapten, we have found that the occurrence of catalytic antibodies in SJL and MRL/lpr autoimmune mice is dramatically higher than in normal mouse strains (e.g., the wild-type MRL/++ or BALB/c). Fewer than 10 catalytic clones are usually obtained from a single fusion of lymphocytes taken from normal mice, whereas several hundred catalytic clones are obtained in SJL or MRL/lpr mice. Differences in the numbers of hapten-binding clones do not account for the high occurrences of catalytic clones in these strains. This phenomenon prevailed in the early responses; in both SJL and MRL/lpr mice a significant decline in the appearance of catalytic clones was observed after multiple immunizations. Esterolytic antibodies were not found in MRL/lpr mice immunized with haptens that do not mimic the transition state for the hydrolysis of the ester substrate (e.g., with a substrate analog). The catalytic antibodies manifest high specificity to the antigen and variability in their binding and catalytic properties. The use of autoimmunity-prone mice may greatly expand the repertoire of catalytic clones elicited against a transition-state analog hapten. More intriguing is the possible linkage between autoimmunity and the appearance of catalytic antibodies. These results suggest that there is normally a selection against the expression of certain variable genes encoding antibodies with catalytic activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Tawfik
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chap
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sela
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Eshhar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000378:metabolism*; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D002384:Catalysis; D002999:Clone Cells; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006241:Haptens; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D006241:Haptens