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International Immunology, Vol. 11, No. 9, 1501-1507, September 1999
© 1999 Japanese Society for Immunology

Functional diversity of natural IgM

Caroline Brissac1,3, Alberto Nobrega2, Jorge Carneiro1,3 and John Stewart3,4

1 Unité d'Immunobiologie, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Dr Roux, 75015 Paris, France
2 Depto de Imunologia, Instituto de Microbiologia, CCS-Bloco I, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ, Cidade Universitaria, Ilha do Fundão, CEP 21944, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
3 Estudos Avanciados, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, 2781 Oeiras, Portugal
4 COSTECH, Département Technologie et Sciences de l'Homme, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, BP 60649, 60206 Compiègne Cedex, France

Correspondence to: C. Brissac, Unité d'Immunobiologie, Institut Pasteur, as above; E mail: cbrissac{at}pasteur.fr

This paper proposes a method for the quantitative characterization of repertoire diversity of an unknown mixture of antibodies on the basis of its reactivity profile in the quantitative immunoblot (QIB). The QIB is calibrated by measuring the reactivity profiles of supernatants of known `diversity' (i.e. known numbers of B cell clones). We define a quantitative `index of variability' (IV) which decreases regularly as the diversity increases and the profiles tend towards a common `convergence profile'. The calibration procedure is consolidated by a mathematical model based on the Poisson distribution; this theoretical model accounts correctly for the observed convergence behavior. On the basis of this calibration curve, it is possible to estimate the diversity of an unknown antibody mixture from a measure of its IV. We conclude that the functional diversity of natural serum IgM in mice can be estimated at ~16,000 clones.

Keywords: antibody repertoire, diversity, natural antibody

Transmitting editor: J. Kearney


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