Immune responses in spleen colonies. II. Clonal assortment of 19S- and 7S-producing cells in mice reacting against two antigens

Abstract

Spleen colonies arising in irradiated mice pre-immunized with sheep and chicken erythrocytes were assayed for the content of 19S- and 7S-producing cells. This was done by applying to each isolated colony a direct (19S) and an indirect (7S) plaque test for each antigen.

In both tests, the positive anti-sheep or anti-chicken reactivity of cells was found to be completely independent of each other. The plaque forming capacity for 19S- and 7S-producing cells showed a marginally significant association in the anti-sheep response only. The numbers of plaque forming cells were distributed exponentially, suggesting that 19S- and 7S-producing cells have similar growth kinetics.

These results confirm the clonal nature of antibody response within spleen colonies, thus making the system amenable for genetic studies of antibody production. They document a strictly vertical transmission of antibody specificity, and possibly of immunoglobulin class. The incomplete independence of 19S and 7S distribution is interpreted as due to local or technical conditions rather than to a production `shift' of the clones.