Effect on Synthetic Capacity of Antibodies Directed Against Receptors of Allotype-Bearing Rabbit Cells

Abstract

Rabbit immunoglobulin molecules possess antigenically distinct allotypic markers. Immunoglobulin molecules possessing such markers which are attached to the surfaces of lymphocyte precursors of antibody-forming cells are believed to serve as antigen receptors. Interactions between allotypic determinants and antibodies directed against them can provide useful models for the study of immunoregulatory phenomena. Exposure of a fetal or neonatal rabbit to antibodies against one of its immunoglobulin allotypes results in a persistent defect in expression of that type (allotype suppression). Some evidence indicates that this phenomenon involves specific active suppression by lymphoid cells. By examining the effects of anti-allotype antibodies on allotype-bearinq lymphocytes in vitro, certain specific events surroundinp the processes of lymphocyte ontogeny, and the differentiation and maturation of antibody-forming cells are being analyzed.