Expression of the major cross-reactive idiotype in a primary anti-azobenzenearsonate response.

We have studied the occurrence of IgM plaque-forming cells secreting the cross-reactive idiotype (CRI) characteristic of the anti-azobenzenearsonate antibody responses in individual mice of different strains after one injection of the T-independent antigen, p-azobenzenearsonate-Brucella. Under these conditions of stimulation we find that idiotype is not unique to the Igh-1e and Igh-1d allotypes, but is expressed prominently in Igh-1a and Igh-1j strains and to a lesser but significant extent in Igh-1c and Igh-1b strains. We confirmed previous work that idiotype expression in mice hyperimmunized with protein conjugates of azobenzenearsonate is mainly restricted to mice of the Igh-1e allotype, but we find the display to be less marked than in mice given a single injection of the Brucella conjugate. We conclude that the B cell repertoire is inadequately revealed by analysis of serum antibodies of hyperimmune mice. We suggest the apparent correlation of the anti-azobenzenearsonate idiotype to allotype may be influenced by the activity of heavy chain regulatory genes, rather than the presence or absence of structural genes coding for the major CRI. We cannot exclude the possibility that the previously designated CRI-negative strains may express a cross-reactive determinant that is not necessarily a product of the CRI gene family.