Distribution of kappa and lambda light chain isotypes among human blood immunoglobulin-secreting cells after vaccination with pneumococcal polysaccharides.

The light chain isotype of immunoglobulin-secreting blood cells was investigated by means of monolayer plaque-forming cell assays allowing direct immunofluorescence staining for cytoplasmic kappa and lambda light chains in centre cells. The study revealed that cultured, polyclonally activated pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), IgM-, IgG- and IgA-secreting cells expressed the kappa light chain isotype in approximately 65% of the cells. IgM- and IgG-secreting cells induced by vaccination with pneumococcal polysaccharides had a similar percentage of kappa light chain-containing cells. In contrast, IgA-secreting cells induced by vaccination with pneumococcal polysaccharides showed a different (bimodal) distribution as regards expression of kappa light chain. The majority (56%) of the investigated individuals expressed kappa light chain in approximately 50% of the cells and the rest expressed kappa light chains in approximately 80% of the cells. The percentage of cells containing kappa light chains among spontaneous IgA-secreting cells in unvaccinated individuals was approximately 50% and thus also differed from the general pattern for mitogen-activated B cells. The light chain pattern of IgA-secreting cells from individuals vaccinated with pneumococcal polysaccharides and from unvaccinated individuals probably indicates that these cells are being derived from B-cell clones with a limited idiotypic heterogeneity, which have been selected and clonally expanded by naturally occurring antigens at the mucosal membranes.