Limits for Antibody Affinity Maturation and Repertoire Diversification in Hypervaccinated Humans

The immune system is known to generate a diverse panel of high-affinity Abs by adaptively improving the recognition of pathogens during ongoing immune responses. In this study, we report the biological limits for Ag-driven affinity maturation and repertoire diversification by analyzing Ab repertoires in two adult volunteers after each of three consecutive booster vaccinations with tetanus toxoid. Maturation of on-rates and off-rates occurred independently, indicating a kinetically controlled affinity maturation process. The third vaccination induced no significant changes in the distribution of somatic mutations and binding rate constants implying that the limits for affinity maturation and repertoire diversification had been reached. These fully matured Ab repertoires remained similar in size, genetically diverse, and dynamic. Somatic mutations and kinetic rate constants showed normal and log-normal distribution profiles, respectively. Mean values can therefore be considered as biological constants defining the observed boundaries. At physiological temperature, affinity maturation peaked at k(on) = 1.6 x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1) and k(off) = 1.7 x 10(-4) s(-1) leading to a maximum mean affinity of K(D) = 1.0 x 10(-9) M. At ambient temperature, the average affinity increased to K(D) = 3.4 x 10(-10) M mainly due to slower off-rates. This experimentally determined set of constants can be used as a benchmark for analysis of the maturation level of human Abs and Ab responses. The Journal of Immunology, 2011, 187: 4229-4235.