Immunological responses of mice to lipopolysaccharide: lack of secondary responsiveness by C3H/HeJ mice

Mice of the C3H/HeJ strain, which were unresponsive to the biological effects of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), could not be induced to make specific secondary immunological responses to LPS; they responded to two doses of LPS with a primary response. This lack of secondary responsiveness by C3H/HeJ mice was due to a defect in a single, autosomal, dominant gene. Thus, further evidence was provided that an intact second immunological signal and responsiveness thereto were required to trigger secondary antibody responses in primed animals.