Antibody production in mice. I. The analysis of immunological memory.

The development of immunological memory was analysed by the use of ` culture technique'. The lymphoid cells from primed mice were transferred into heavily irradiated recipients and the size of memory cell population in primed donor mice was estimated quantitatively by the magnitude of secondary responsiveness. The production of memory cells was detected about 1 week after the primary administration of antigen, and increased gradually up to approximately 6 weeks. The development of the memory cells carrying information for the synthesis of γG-antibodies (γG-memory cells) was initiated at the early stage of priming and followed by that of the γG-memory cells. Although the ratio of population of γG- to γG-memory cells changed with lapse of time in primed mice, the original ratio of each population in donor, at any stage after priming, was apparently maintained when cultured in recipients for at least 4 weeks. This indicates that the conversion from γG- to γG-memory cells does not occur. From these results, it was suggested that the γG- and γG-memory cells develop independently in primed mice under the continuous stimulation of primarily administered antigen.