A Murine Monoclonal Anti‐Idiotypic Antibody Detects a Common Idiotope on Human, Mouse and Rabbit Antibodies to Allergen Lol p IV

A syngeneic mouse monoclonal anti‐idiotypic antibody (anti‐Id). designated as B1/I. was generated against a monoclonal antibody (MoAb 91) specific for Ryegrass pollen allergen Lol p IV, This anti‐Id recognized an idiotope (Id) that was also present on other monoclonal antibodies with the same specificity as MoAb 91, Observations that (i) the anti‐Id inhibited the binding of MoAb 91 to Lol p IV and (ii) the Id anti‐Id interaction could be inhibited by Lol p IV indicated that the Id was located within or near the antigen combininfisite. These properties served to characterise HI 1 as an internal image anti‐Id, Evidence that an immune response in different species to Lol p IV elicits the formation of antibodies which express a common Id was provided by the observations that (i) the Id anti‐Id interactions could be inhibited by mouse, human and rabbit antisera to Lol p IV and (ii) the binding of these antisera to Lol p IV could be inhibited by the anti‐Id, Interestingly, the internal image anti‐Id B1/1 also recognized an Id on a monoclonal antibody which was directed to an epitope of Lol p IV. different from that recognized by MoAb 91.