Studies of H-2Kb mutant mice. I. Description and serological studies of B6.C-H-2bm9, -H-2bm10, and -H-2bm11.

Three new H-2b mutant strains, B6.C-H-2bm9, B6.C-H-2bm10 and B6.C-H-2bm11, are described. The three mutant strains are of the gain and loss type as they reject skin grafts reciprocally with the parental C57BL/6Kh. The mutations, which arose independently, are all allelic at the same locus as 11 other mutant strains already described. By complementation and other studies the mutated gene has been shown to be H-2Kb. The strains were typed directly and by absorption with antisera specific for H-2Kb and H-2Db private and public specificities and for Iab specificities. Each strain typed differently with these sera. The strin B6.C-H-2bm9 was found to be serologically identical with C57BL/6. The strains B6.C-H-2bm10 and B6.C-H-2bm11 were found to have alterations in the private H-2Kb specificity, H-2.33, and in the public specificity, H-2.5, but to a different extent. B6.C-H-2bm10 had a marked decrease in the amount of H-2.33 expressed on the splenic cell surface as compared to C57BL/6 and also has a marked decrease in the expression of H-2.5 on both spleen and red blood cells. In comparison, B6.-H-2bm11 has a decrease in the expression of H-2.33 but an increase in the expression of H-2.5 on both splenic and red blood cells. The other H-2b specificities appeared to be unaltered as compared with C57BL/6.