Genetic control of the immune response to mammalian chymotrypsins in mice. I. The immune response to high doses of bovine alpha-chymotrypsin.

The primary and secondary immune response to the antigen bovine pancreatic alpha-chymotrypsin was investigated in inbred mice. It was found that strain differences in the immune response only became apparent after secondary immunization. The genetic control of the immune response was investigated in twelve different strains of mice, F1, F2 and F1 backcross hybrids, following secondary immunization. A continuous distribution for the mean antibody responsiveness was obtained. High responsiveness was associated with both the H-2 haplotype and three non-H-2 loci. Furthermore the F1 hybrids produced a greater quantitative antibody response to chymotrypsin than either of the corresponding parental strains.