Guinea pigs immunized with tri-DNP-bacitracin A produced anti-DNP-antibodies with binding characteristics which varied from individual to individual. Of nine antisera from single animals studied by equilibrium dialysis against tritiated DNP-ε-aminocaproic acid (DNP-EACA), DNP-δ-aminovaleric acid (DNP-DAVA) and DNP-isoleucine (DNP-ile), three bound DNP-EACA and DNP-DAVA clearly better than they bound DNP-ile, one bound DNP-ile with a significantly greater energy of interaction that it bound DNP-DAVA, and five bound the ligands with similar or only slightly different energies of interaction. In contrast, anti-DNP antisera produced by seven individual guinea pigs immunized with DNP-BGG or DNP-BSA all bound DNP-EACA or DNP-DAVA to a greater degree than they bound DNP-ile. These observations suggest that individual animals can respond preferentially to one of a series of antigenic determinants presented on the same molecule.

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Supported by National Institutes of Health Grant AI-03075-10, and by the Health Research Council, City of New York under Contracts I-140 and I-593.

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Copyright, 1970, by The Williams & Wilkins Company
Copyright © 1970 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.
1970
The Williams & Wilkins Company