Specific fractionation of immune cell populations.

Antigen-binding cells from spleens of immune and nonimmune mice were isolated by the method of fiber fractionation. Binding of the lymphoid cells to derivatives of nylon fibers made with various antigens was prevented by the presence of the respective free antigen, as well as by antibodies to mouse immunoglobulins. Antigen-binding cells specific for dinitrophenyl groups were separated from direct and indirect plaque-forming cells of the same specificity. Spleen cells from immune and nonimmune animals were fractionated according to their relative affinities for antigen, and the percentage of antigen-binding cells in the spleens of nonimmune animals was estimated. A comparison of the numbers and relative affinities of immunoglobulin receptors of immune and nonimmune populations indicated that after immunization only those antigen-binding cells of higher affinities were increased in number. This finding suggests that the specificity of clonal selection depends not only upon the binding of antigen to a lymphoid cell but also upon the capacity of that cell to be triggered to mature and replicate.