Cellular cooperation during in vivo anti-hapten antibody responses. I. The effect of cell number on the response.

Cellular interactions in adoptive secondary anti-hapten antibody responses to the hapten 2, 4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) have been studied. It was shown that DNP-specific B cells must interact with carrier specific helper T cells to give optimal responses. Independent titration of B cell and helper cell activity in adoptive anti-DNP antibody responses gave the following results: Doubling the number of transferred B cells approximately doubled the subsequent antibody response. Doubling the number of helper cells leads to nearly 4 times as much anti-DNP antibody, measured 7 days after boosting ("premium effect"). This marked effect of helper cell number on the antibody response is thought to be due primarly to the interaction of two populations of carrier-specific cells in the helper effect, or to the interaction of two activities of a single population of helper cells, namely clone activation and clone expansion. Only a very small proportion of the premium effect given by helper cells could be attributed to increases in antibody affinity.