Genetic regulation of IgE and agglutinating antibody synthesis in lines of mice selected for high and low immune responsiveness

The responses to a wide dose‐range of ovalbumin (OV) have been comparatively studied in terms of IgE and hemagglutinating antibodies in high line (HL), low line (LL) and interline cross mice. The kinetics of the primary and secondary responses, which differ according to the antigen dose injected, are parallel in each line, for both types of antibody with the exception of a greater susceptibility of IgE to suppression after higher doses. The threshold doses of antigen which are quite different in HL, LL and F 1 mice are, in each case, similar for both IgE and hemagglutinating antibody induction. Furthermore, in primary response, the dominance effect in F 1 is of “low responsiveness” for 0.05 μg OV and of “high responsiveness” for 0.5 μg OV. The inversion of dominance occurs at the same OV dose for IgE and hemagglutinating antibodies. This is also true for minor doses in secondary response. When individual responsiveness to a minute dose of OV is investigated in interline F 2 and backcross mice, a high correlation coefficient is observed between IgE and hemagglutinating antibodies. Finally, the frequency distribution curves of responsiveness to a minute dose of OV (0.05 μg)in HL, LL, F 1 , F 2 and backcross mice are compatible with the hypothesis of a one locus regulation for both IgE and hemagglutinating antibody synthesis.