A MOUSE B-CELL ALLOANTIGEN DETERMINED BY GENE(S) LINKED TO THE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX

Antibodies cytotoxic for only a subpopulation of C57Bl/10 lymph node and spleen cells were detected when rat antiserum against B10.D2 was exhaustively absorbed with B10.A lymphocytes. Antibodies of similar specificity were also detected in B10.A anti-B10.D2 and in B10.A anti-C57Bl/10 alloantisera. Reactions with recombinant strains of mice indicate that the cell-surface antigen(s) responsible for this specificity is determined by gene(s) in or to the left of the Ir-1 region of the major histocompatibility complex. A variety of criteria implicate B cells as the subpopulation of lymphocytes bearing this antigen. In view of these data and the recent report by others of a T-cell alloantigen determined by gene(s) in the major histocompatibility complex, it seems possible that there may be a variety of H-2-linked alloantigens expressed preferentially on subclasses of lymphocytes.