Maturation of the immkune response in vitro. Focal fluctuation and changes in affinity of anti-beta-D-galactosidase activating antibody.

We have cultivated lymph node microfragments from beta-D-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) primed rabbits and have measured their secondary response directed towards the whole molecule (precipitating antibodies) and to a single determinant (activating antibodies) of the antigen. By decreasing the size of the fragments to 10(5) cells, we began to observe heterogeneity among identical cultures in terms of positivity of response, antibody specificity, and titers. The affinity of "early" activating antibodies was inversely proportional to the dose of challenge. While no maturation was seen in low and excessive challenge, in all cultures receiving intermediate doses the association constant was raised several orders of magnitude within periods of 20 days. The relevance of these data to the mechanism of affinity selection of antigen-sensitive cells is discussed.