FIG. 5.
Intrasplenic injection into conditioned NOD/SCID mice of HBcAg together with CBL from donors who have not been exposed to HBV induces the production of human HBcAg-binding IgM. On day 0, 107 human CBL were injected into the spleens of conditioned (300 rads of gamma radiation and 1 mg of TMβ1 administered intraperitoneally on day −1) NOD/SCID mice. Nine animals were given CBL and HBcAg (10 μg per mouse) (●), and eight received CBL without HBcAg (▪). On day 14, plasma was harvested and examined for the presence of HBcAg-binding IgM at dilutions of 1/10 to 1/4,000. The percentage of mice displaying a positive signal at each dilution is shown.