The CH series of murine B cell lymphomas: identification of cross-reactive idiotypes and restricted antigen specificities.

Abstract

Mice of the double congenic strain, B10.H-2aH-4bp/Wts (2a4b), display a high incidence of lymphoma following intense adoptive immunization with sheep erythrocytes (SRBC). The tumors which arise comprise a heterogenous group, including the UNC series of T cell lymphomas (Corley 1983), the CH series of B cell lymphomas (Lanier 1982), and a set of lymphomas which are not readily characterized as belonging to either the B cell or T cell lineage (unpublished data). Presently available data are insufficient to define the etiology of this disease, but we previously had found that heterologous anti-idiotype sera raised against the surface IgM of CHI and of CH2 each reacted with one other of the first 11 B cell lymphomas described (CH9 and CH5, respectively) (Arnold 1982). This suggested that a limited subset of the total normal idiotype repertoire might be expressed by CH lymphomas. We also had found that the surface immunoglobulin of CH12 was specifically reactive with an epitope present on SRBC, suggesting that adoptive immunization had led to the expansion of a subset of B cells with neoplastic potential (Arnold 1983).