Antigen mimicry by anti-idiotypic antibodies: study of interactions between complementary surfaces in macromolecules

Anti-idiotypic antibodies were obtained from New Zealand White rabbits injected with affinity-purified rabbit anti-TrpR antibodies. In gel mobility shift studies, such immunoglobulin preparations were shown to contain one or more species able to form specific complexes with DNA molecules bearing a trp operator. In competitive ELISA assays, the binding of anti-idiotypic antibodies to operator-bearing DNA was reversed by TrpR. The demonstration that the immune repertoire contains information for operator-specific DNA-binding proteins may be relevant to the etiology of certain autoimmune diseases.