Genetic control of B cell function. II. Antibody responses of inbred mice to red blood cells are controlled at the B cell level.

Inbred strains of mice can be classified into high and low responders with respect to their antibody responses to RBC. In this paper, we investigate the cellular basis of the difference in responsiveness between high- and low-responder strains. In cell-mixing experiments with purified B cells, T cells, and macrophages from 2 different combinations of H-2-identical high- and low-responder strains, we find that the B cells determine high and low responsiveness, whereas T cells and macrophages from low responders function equally as well as those of high responders. We could also exclude that suppressor T cells play an important role in determining high and low responsiveness. It is therefore suggested that low responsiveness is a defect of B cells to become activated in a T helper cell-dependent antibody response. In the previous paper of this series we showed that a limited number of genes (possibly 2), 1 linked to the Igh gene complex and the other(s) of unknown linkage, control the level of responsiveness. Taken together, we think that this represents a novel example of a genetic polymorphism in B cell function that is sufficiently simple, genetically and functionally, to provide a genetic approach to the study of B cell activation.