Quantitation of expression of idiotopes recognized by a panel of monoclonal antibodies in normal serum immunoglobulin: use of a novel 4-stage ELISA assay.

This paper describes the application of a sensitive ELISA assay detecting as little as 10 ng/ml of a specific idiotope. Using this assay we were able to divide monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies generated using a single IgG1λ paraprotein as the immunogen into three distinct groups. Seven antibodies detected determinants which were expressed only by the immunogen. The remaining seven antibodies all reacted with normal serum immunoglobulin. Four antibodies reacted with public idiotopes which were strongly expressed by serum immunoglobulin, and three antibodies reacted with restricted public idiotopes which were only weakly expressed by serum immunoglobulin