Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses of the Antibody Response of Adult Mice Tolerized with Deaggregated Bovine γ‐Globulin: II. At the Cellular Level

Abstract

Mice were made tolerant to bovine γ‐globulin (BGG) by an intravenous injection of deaggregated soluble BGG (sBGG). Two weeks later, they were injected with immunogenic forms of BGG either into foot pads or intravenously. Time course of the number of antibody‐forming cells and the relative avidity of plaque‐forming antibodies in tolerized mice were compared with those of sublethally X‐irradiated mice and of normal immunized mice. The number of plaque‐forming cells (PFC) per popliteal lymph node of tolerant or X‐irradiated mice was shown to be smaller than in the controls. The growth rate of PFC in the nodes in the early logarithmic phase was almost the same between tolerized mice and normal mice, but X‐irradiation resulted in a reduction of the growth rate. Although X‐irradiation did not influence the average avidity of plaque‐forming antibodies, the induction of tolerance by sBGG slightly reduced the avidity in popliteal lymph nodes and conspicuously in spleens about three weeks after the challenge immunization, the relative avidity in the latter being as low as one tenth of the normal immunized mice. In popliteal lymph nodes of tolerized mice at day 9 after immunization, a reduction in the relative avidity of plaque‐forming antibodies was not observed, though the number of PFC was as small as one fifth of the controls. However, X‐irradiation of the hind limbs of tolerized mice prior to immunization caused a reduction in the avidity of plaque‐forming antibodies in the nodes. These results indicated that the precursors of high avidity antibody producers were liable to tolerance induction, and that cells in the recirculating pool were inactivated by the tolerogen more easily than those in such remote sites as the popliteal lymph nodes. © jointly owned by author and Igakushoin (Publisher)