Antigen Binding and the Immune Response II. The Large Number of Antigen-Binding Cells in Primed Animals

Abstract

Summary

Four months after a primary injection of beta-galactosidase without adjuvant, washed spleen cells of A/Jax mice bind increased levels of the enzyme in vitro, at a time when no antibody activity can be demonstrated in the serum by other criteria. In such mice, a large proportion of spleen cells bear the antigen-binding activity. Hence, not all antigen-binding cells are necessarily antigen-sensitive or antibody-producing cells.

This increased binding can be attributed to cells which have adsorbed cytophilic antibody in vivo during the period of antibody biosynthesis.