Maternal kappa-containing IgG induces a late anti-K response in adult, K-deficient offspring
✍ Scribed by Otti Bengtsson; Annika Daggfeldt; Kjell-Olov Grönvik; Jan Andersson
- Book ID
- 101386295
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2001
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 132 KB
- Volume
- 31
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0014-2980
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✦ Synopsis
Kappa ( ‹ )-light (L) chain-deficient (C ‹ -/-) mice readily mount a T cell-dependent antibody response after immunization with ‹ -containing proteins. Such antibody responses are absent in normal (C ‹ +/+) animals because of tolerance due to the abundance of ‹ -L chains expressed on more than 95% of all B cells and serum immunoglobulins. When heterozygous ‹ -sufficient (C ‹ +/-) females are bred with homozygous ‹ -deficient (C ‹ -/-) males, half of their offspring will become ‹ -deficient but have received ‹ -L chain containing maternal Ig, mainly IgG and IgA, through placental and intestinal transmission. The ‹ -containing maternal Ig persists for more than 2 months in the circulation of the offspring. Starting from week 15-20 of age, a spontaneous antibody response towards the maternal ‹ -L chains can be recorded. The time of onset, as well as the magnitude of the responses differ among individuals of the same litter. Invariably, once a response has been initiated, it transits into an IgGtype of response, which upon injection with ‹ -containing protein shows the features of a secondary type of immune response.