Kinetics of the antibody response to type III pneumococcal polysaccharide. I. Evidence that suppressor cells function by inhibiting the recruitment and proliferation of antibody-producing cells.

For the first 126 hr after immunization of mice with an optimally immunogenic dose (0.5 mug) of Type III pneumococcal polysaccharide (SSS-III), splenic antibody-forming PFC and serum antibody levels were measured at 2- and 8-hr intervals, respectively. PFC were detected at 28 hr after immunization and then increased through 86 hr after immunization; thereafter, the number of PFC remained nearly constant for the next 20 to 24 hr, and then began to decline. In contrast, serum antibody was first detected 60 hr after immunization. The accumulation of serum antibody continued to lag behind the increase in numbers of PFC by 16 to 20 hr until maximal serum antibody levels were attained; curves fitted to the values obtained for each parameter were nearly parallel.