The role of a carrier‐determinant and T cells in the induction of liver‐specific autoantibodies in the mouse

The immune response of inbred mice to a water‐soluble liver extract (F‐antigen) from certain allogenic strains of inbred mice is shown to be thymus‐dependent. Mice do not produce any detectable anti‐liver antibody (anti‐F) if they are first rendered tolerant to the histocompatibility antigens carried by the F‐antigen donor. On the other hand, tolerant mice do produce anti‐F if injected with F‐antigen from a donor with a different set of histocompatibility antigens to which they have been rendered tolerant. Breeding experiments show that H‐2 histocompatibility antigens segregate independently of their ability to respond to a given F‐antigen. An analogy is drawn between this system and the well‐defined hapten‐protein carrier system. The results are discussed in terms of T and B cells in the immune response to F‐antigen in particular, and self‐tolerance in general.