The immune response towards beta-adrenergic ligands and their receptors. VI. Idiotypy of monoclonal anti-alprenolol antibodies.

Four murine monoclonal antibodies specific for alprenolol, a synthetic beta-adrenergic ligand, with different binding properties towards alprenolol and other beta-adrenergic antagonists and agonists (as described in a previous report) were used to induce anti-idiotypic responses in rabbits and mice. Three of the rabbit anti-idiotypes inhibited, and one increased the binding of tritiated dihydroalprenolol to the Ab1 against which they were induced. The syngeneic mouse anti-idiotypes all had an inhibitory effect on the ligand binding to their corresponding Ab1. Cross-reactivity tests of the xenogeneic and syngeneic anti-idiotypes were positive only for two monoclonal anti-alprenolol antibodies. Cross-reaction could be shown neither on a panel of 15 other monoclonals, nor on polyclonal anti-alprenolol antibodies of the BALB/c and the C57BL/10 mice. These results suggest that the immune response against alprenolol results in antibodies with mostly private idiotypic determinants. Moreover, the properties of the anti-idiotypic response against the same monoclonal antibody seem to be different according to the species used for anti-idiotypic induction.