THE EFFECT oF GRAFT-VERsus-HosT REACTION ON THE ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO POLY-L(TYR, GLu)-POLY-D ,L-ALA--POLY-L-LYs IN NONRESPONDER MICE* BY JOHN C. ORDAL~ AND F. CARL GRUMET§

The immune response of mice to the branched multichain synthetic polypeptide poly-L(Tyr,Glu)-poly-D,L-Ala--poly-L-Lys [(T,G)-A--L] I is under the control of a cedominant gene, I tl , which maps near the middle of the major histocompatibillty (11-2) complex (1). H-2 bib mice given a primary challenge of (T, G)-A--L in adjuvant and a secondary challenge of (T, G)-A--L in saline produce large amounts of anti(T,G)-A--L antibody. In contrast, H-2 ~/k mice so immunized produce markedly lower amounts (2). Responses to many other antigens have also been shown to be controlled by immune response genes linked to tt-2 (3). Histocompatibility-]inked immune responses have been demonstrated in other species as well. In guinea pigs, the ability to respond to poly-L-lysine (PLL) or haptens bound to PLL is linked to the guinea pig major histocompatibility locus (4). Nonresponder strain guinea pigs can be made to produce large amounts of anti-dinitrophenyl (DNP)-PLL antibodies, if they are challenged with DNP-PLL electrostatically coupled to foreign albumin carriers (5). Nonresponder animals first made tolerant to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and then challenged with DNP-PLL-BSA are unable to synthesize anti-DNPPLL antibody. This indicates that nonresponder animals are capable of making antihapten antibody only when the hapten is attached to an immunologically recognizable carrier (6). These data can be interpreted as suggesting that the PLL gene regulates