Antigen Recognition Responsible for the Induction In Vitro of the Secondary Response

Abstract

In order to understand the mechanism of immunological stimulation, it is worth starting with a minimum theory of antigen reception. We assume first that nothing except antibody recognizes antigen, and we must therefore assume that the receptor for antigen is antibody already present at a site, in or on the cell, prior to exposure to antigen. Presumably the receptor antibody is made by the cell, and represents an accurate sample of the antibodies that the progeny of the cell will produce if stimulation is successfully accomplished. The relationship between receptor and product may well be even simpler and more direct than this: an individual plasma cell makes a single amino acid sequence, and this sequence is present in the parent lymphocyte. The arguments in favor of this hypothesis can be found in a recent review (Lennox and Cohn, 1967), from which the present account is derived.