Studies on the Transfer of Antibody-producing Capacity II. THE SERIAL TRANSFER OF ANTIBODY-PRODUCING CELLS.

These studies have tested the behaviour of antibody-producing cells on serial transfer through immunologically neutral hosts. Spleen cells from rats primarily immunized in vivo with a Salmonella flagellar antigen were secondarily stimulated in vitro by incubation with the antigen at 37° C. They were then injected intraperitoneally into homologous rats less than 48 hours old. Two weeks later these host rats were killed, their sera titrated for antiflagellar antibody, and their spleen cells transferred to further newborn hosts, either with or without further antigenic stimulation. This type of transfer was continued for up to seven passages. It was found that if the spleen cells were not antigenically stimulated in vitro, they formed comparatively small quantities of antibody, and successful passage could only be achieved for two or three passages. If the spleen cells were antigenically stimulated before passage, much more antibody was produced, and successful passage could be achieved for five passages. Moreover, if the donor animal had been immunized with two unrelated antigens, and the spleen cells before passage were stimulated with one antigen but not the other, the hosts developed far more antibody to the former than to the latter. These results are discussed in the light of recent immunological theory, and are considered to support clonal hypotheses of antibody formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]