Idiotype-specific neonatal suppression of phosphorylcholine-responsive B cells.

The effect on neonatal anti-idiotypic suppression on the expression of B cells of the T15 clonotype has been investigated at the level of individual clonal precursor cells. The results indicate that B cells of the T15 clonotype are almost completely eliminated from the repertoire for four months after neonatal injection of allogeneic anti-idiotypic serum. The degree of this suppression is dependent on the amount of anti-idiotypic antibody administered and is less profound if anti-idiotypic antibody is given after the first week of life. No suppression was observed when anti-idiotypic antisera were administered to mice 30 days of age or older, which may indicate that immature B cells are the population most susceptible to suppression. However, since suppression could be reversed by administration of T15 myeloma protein several days after injection of anti-idiotype, the inability to suppress adult BALB/c mice may have been due to the high level of T15 idiotype normally present in their serum. Finally, phosphorylcholine-responsive B cells of identifiable clonotypes other than T15, even a clonotype sharing antigen-combining site determinants with T15, appear unaffected by anti-T15 suppression.