Studies of Monoclonal Antibodies Specific for Major Histocompatibility Complex Products of the Rat

Polyclonal syngeneic, allogeneic, and xenogeneic and monoclonal syngeneic anti-anti-idiotypic antibodies have been produced against previously described monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies with specificity for monoclonal RT1 alloantigen-specific antibodies. The anti-anti-idiotypes could again be shown to be highly specific for the monoclonal anti-idiotype used for the induction of the anti-anti-idiotypic antibodies and to carry the same, or a very similar, idiotype as the original monoclonal idiotypic antibody used to induce the monoclonal anti-idiotypic. Among the 30 syngeneic and allogeneic and the five xenogeneic polyclonal anti-anti-idiotypic antisera and the three monoclonal anti-anti-idiotypes, only one polyclonal antiserum showed binding capacity to the corresponding RT1-encoded antigenic determinants on spleen cells. All the other antibodies were idiotypic but not antigen binding.