Control of antibody heterogeneity in strain 2 guinea pigs.

When Wright's strain 2 guinea pigs are immunized with 2,4-dinitrophenyl conjugates in complete Freund's adjuvant, the antibody response varies with the choice of carrier. Immunization with 2,4-dinitrophenyl-guinea pig albumin elicits a response that requires approximately 21 days to detect. The antibody produced is, according to isoelectric focusing, relatively homogeneous IgG2 having a neutral isoelectric point. On small amounts of IgG are produced. Stimulation of animals with 2,4-dinitrophenyl-keyhole Limpet hemocyanin produces a response by 14 days is similar to the peak response inititated by 2,4-dinitrophenyl-guinea pig albumin. With time, however, basic IgG2 populations are added to the response. By days 28-35, when the anti-hapten response has reached a plateau, the major subpopulation of antibody is neutral IgG2, but there exists several times as much basic IgG2 as IgG1. These data suggest that antigen-responsive cells may be ordered into groups having different thresholds of activation. Regardless of the strength of the antigenic stimulus, there is a set sequence of activation. The same cells always play the primary role, contributing most of the antibody regardless of whether secondary clones of cells are activated.