%0 Journal Article %A Kijima-Tanaka, Mayumi %A Tamura, Y. %A Suzuki, Shoko %A Nagamine, N. %A Nakamura, M. %T Antigenic mimicry of Clostridium chauvoei flagella by polyclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies %D 1994 %J Journal of Medical Microbiology, %V 40 %N 1 %P 70-75 %@ 1473-5644 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00222615-40-1-70 %I Microbiology Society, %X Summary Polyclonal rabbit anti-idiotypic (anti-Id) antibodies against two monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for the flagella of Clostridium chauvoei were produced, purified and characterised. Lack of cross-reactivity with heterologous MAbs indicated that the anti-Id antibodies were highly specific. The surface-exposed epitopes of the flagellar filament recognised with protective MAb were further distinguished by the anti-Id antibodies. Moreover, each anti-Id antibody inhibited the binding of its related MAb to flagellar antigens in a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, suggesting that the anti-Id antibodies bore an internal image of the flagellar antigens. The survival rate of mice was increased to nearly twice that of controls by immunisation with anti-Id 41, which had been produced with a protective MAb; in contrast, anti-Id 114, produced with a non-protective MAb, failed to immunise. The results suggest that an anti-Id antibody containing an internal image of C. chauvoei flagella might be used as a vaccine. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/00222615-40-1-70