Involvement of Mhc loci in immune responses that are not Ir-gene-controlled

Twenty-nine randomly chosen, soluble antigens, many of them highly complex, were used to immunize mice of two strains, C3H and B10.RIII. Lymph node cells from the immunized mice were restimulated in vitro with the priming antigens and the proliferative responses of the cells was determined. Both strains were responders to 28 of 29 antigens. Eight antigens were then used to immunize 11 congenic strains carrying different H-2 haplotypes, and the T-cell proliferative responses of these strains were determined. Again, all the strains responded to seven of the eight antigens. These experiments were then repeated, but this time antibodies specific for the A (A alpha A beta) or E (E alpha E beta) molecules were added to the culture to block the in vitro responsiveness. In all but one of the responses, inhibition with both A-specific and E-specific antibodies was observed. The response to one antigen (Blastomyces) was exceptional in that some strains were nonresponders to this antigen. Furthermore, the response in the responder strains was blocked with A-specific, but not with E-specific, antibodies. The study demonstrates that responses to antigens not controlled by Ir genes nevertheless require participation of class II Mhc molecules. In contrast to Ir gene-controlled responses involving either the A- or the E-molecule controlling loci (but never both), the responses not Ir-controlled involve participation of both A- and E-controlling loci. The lack of IR-gene control is probably the result of complexity of the responses to multiple determinants. There is thus no principal difference between responses controlled and those not controlled by IR genes: both types involve the recognition of the antigen, in the context of Mhc molecules.