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American Zoologist 1975 15(1):189-197; doi:10.1093/icb/15.1.189
© 1975 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Antigen Binding Cells and the Generation of Diversity

JANET DECKER and ELI SERCARZ
Department of Bacteriology, University of California Los Angeles, California 90024

To determine at what time in development the genetic capacity to make an antibody of a given specificity is present, we have looked for antigen binding cells (ABC) to a panel of five randomly selected and independently bound antigens during fetal life in the mouse, rabbit, chicken, and sheep. ABC are present for each of the five antigens in approximately equal frequencies at the very beginning of immune development, preceding the appearance of theta antigen and the ability to make a humoral antibody response. ABC in the thymus decline from an initially high level (1%) to adult levels during fetal life. The ABC are all positive for surface immunoglobulin, and antigen binding can be inhibited with rabbit anti-mouse mu chain serum. We conclude that most receptor specificities can be made without a need for somatic diversification.


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