INDUCTION OF ANTIIDIOTYPIC ANTIBODIES BY BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS

Balb/c (H-2d) mice were transfused weekly with 0.1 ml of whole blood from C3H (H-2k) mice. One week after 3 blood transfusions (BT), the mice were bled and the sera collected and pooled. The 3BT serum was absorbed twice with C3H lymphocytes and IgG isolated by ion-exchange chromatography. Balb/c anti-C3H, Balb/c anti-Balb/c, and Balb/c anti-SJL (H-2s) lymphocytes were generated in the mixed lymphocyte cultures and metabolically labeled with 35S-methionine. Cell lysates were prepared from labeled lymphocytes and precleared by absorption with normal mouse serum. Immunoprecipitation was carried out by 3BT-IgG and NMS-IgG. 3BT-IgG specifically precipitated 7 molecules (30K, 60K, 72K, 86K, 92K, 97K, 145K) from Balb/c anti-C3H lymphocytes. In contrast, 3BT-IgG did not precipitate these molecules from Balb/c anti-Balb/c or from Balb/c anti-SJL lymphocytes. The data suggest that BT induces antibodies directed against the blood donor alloantigen-specific receptors on recipient's T lymphocytes.