Expression of new idiotypes following neonatal idiotypic suppression of a dominant clone

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Abstract
The anti‐PC antibodies of BALB/c origin bear predominantly the idiotype characteristic of the phosphorylcholine (PC)‐binding T15 myeloma protein. Sera from one‐day‐old BALB/c mice contain lower amounts of T15 idiotype than sera from adult mice, and, unlike the latter, they also contain detectable amounts of anti‐T15 antibodies. By 2 weeks of age the anti‐T15 antibodies are no longer detectable while the T15 idiotype has reached adult levels. Injection of neonatal mice with anti‐idiotypic antibodies renders them unresponsive to PC until the 15th week of life. Furthermore, this treatment induces a chronic suppression of the T15 idiotype, since on recovery from unresponsiveness, the neonatally suppressed mice produce anti‐PC antibodies which are predominantly T15‐negative. In contrast, treatment of adult mice with anti‐idiotypic antibodies induces only a transient state of unresponsiveness to PC, and the antibodies produced upon recovery bear the T15 idiotype. These findings are discussed in the context of idiotype anti‐idiotype interactions and their possible role in immunoregulation.