The extent of diversity of anti‐hapten antibodies in inbred mice: anti‐NIP (4‐hydroxy‐5‐iodo‐3‐nitro‐phenacetyl) antibodies in CBA/H mice

Abstract

Abstract The number of different anti‐NIP (4‐hydroxy‐5‐iodo‐3‐nitro‐phenacetyl) molecules which inbred CBA/H mice can make was estimated. Spleen cell transfer has been used and the isoelectric spectra of antibodies present in the sera of recipient mice determined. Comparison between the sets of monoclonal antibody spectra deriving from different donor mice gave a repeat frequency for individual spectra. This frequency permitted a statistical estimate (see Addendum) of the minimum number of different anti‐NIP molecules potentially capable of being elicited in CBA/H mice. The most likely value of this pool is 8000 with 98 % probability that pool exceeds 3000 and 95 % probability that pool is less than 30 000.