Kinetics and Clonal Restriction of the Anti-Dinitrophenyl Antibody Response to Dinitrophenyl-6-Amino-Caproyl-L-Tyrosine-Azobenzene-p-Arsonate in Guinea Pigs

The anti-DNP responses in guinea pigs to the small bifunctional antigen DNP-SAC-RAT and to DNP-protein were compared. The response to DNP-SAC-RAT is more restricted both in terms of the anti-DNP titers reached in serum and of the number of DNP specific clones expressed. Priming with DNP-SAC-RAT led to an accelerated secondary response reaching similar levels of anti-DNP antibody as in the primary response. In sera showing restricted clonal patterns by isoelectric focusing, it was found that once a clone dominated the anti-DNP response it remained stable during the primary response and was the only one to reappear after secondary stimulation.