Studies on the control of antibody synthesis. VIII. Selection for high affinity antibody production in the secondary response.

Priming with haptenic determinants can augment the antibody response to a new haptenic determinant presented on a different carrier to which the original haptens are also coupled. This augmentation may be accompanied by a slight increase in the affinity of the antibody formed. However, only if the test hapten is present on the original priming antigen is there a selection for high affinity antibody-forming cells and a marked increase in the affinity of the antihapten antibody produced upon boosting is seen. The data are consistent with the assumption that antibody affinity is primarily controlled by the selection of B lymphocytes by antigen, while additional factors may be involved in controlling the magnitude of the response.