Attempt to Separate Antibody-Forming Clones of Different Affinity for One Antigenic Determinant on a Macromolecule

Abstract

Circulating antibodies directed against a given antigen show an evolution of their binding characteristics from low to high affinity during both the primary and the secondary response. This may be interpreted as progressive selection for the most affine clones of antibody-forming cells forced by antigen limitation. To test this hypothesis one would like to be able to follow the quality of the antibody produced by single clones of cells during long periods of time under chosen antigen pressure. We did experiments in this direction on the assumption that the heterogeneity of the antibodies against a single determinant may be limited, i.e. that they may be synthesized by a discrete number of clones (1). The results — still preliminary in nature — indicate that the clonal level can be reached in in vitro culture of lymph node cells.