Nucleoside-specific tolerance suppresses anti-nucleoside antibody forming cells.

Since its original development by Jerne, the haemolytic plaque assay has increased our understanding of antibody formation to a wide variety of antigens, including proteins, lipopolysaccharides, and simple haptens. We have now developed an assay to detect plaque forming cells (PFC) making anti-nucleoside antibodies. Previously we reported the suppression of circulating antibody to DNA determinants by nucleoside-IgG conjugates. Here we show that BALB/c mice can be rendered tolerant in terms of both direct and indirect anti-nucleoside antibody forming cells and that the state of tolerance is nucleoside-specific at the cellular level.