Patterns of Ig V region expression among neonatal hemagglutinin-responsive B cells. Evidence for non-random V sub(H) gene representation during later stages of development

Hybridoma libraries were established whose specificities reflect those within the BALB/c hemagglutinin-responsive B cell repertoire at 1 or 2 wk of age. These libraries were generated through chronic immunization regimes that induce responses dominated by clonotypes available at the age of initial immunization. Dot blot analyses of cytoplasmic RNA from these hybridomas were performed to determine the Ig H chain V region (V sub(H)) families associated with the repertoire at each age. The findings suggest that the very early neonatal Ag-responsive B cell pool closely reflects preferential V sub(H) gene rearrangements within the pre-B cell compartment.