A functional subpopulation of murine B lymphocytes proliferate in semisolid agar culture in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol to form colonies. The effects of diffusible macrophage-derived factors on this focal proliferation was investigated using a two-layer culture system which prevented macrophage-lymphocyte contact and permitted B-cell activation to be critically assessed under conditions of extremely low cell densities. Adherent peritoneal macrophages incorporated within underlayers of spleen or lymph node cell cultures potentiated both the number and size of developing B-cell colonies. These effects were most striking when low numbers of spleen or lymph node cells, or macrophage- depleted lymphoid cell suspensions were used. Thus, macrophage-depleted lymph node ceils gave rise to virtually no colonies, but colony-forming ability was restored by the presence of an optimal number of macrophages. When the number of macrophages exceeded that required for optimal stimulation, colony formation was suppressed; an effect which was largely prevented by indomethacin, an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis. Under these conditions, stimulation and inhibition of B-cell activation by macrophages could be dissociated, indicating that each signal is selectively controlled by individual molecules elaborated by the macrophage. With an appropriate number of macrophages required for B-cell activation, and sufficient indomethacin to inhibit the accumulation of macrophage-derived prostaglandin, B-lymphocyte clonal proliferation was a linear function of the number of B cells placed in culture. In the absence of macrophages, B-cell colony formation was potentiated by both lipopolysaccharide and intact sheep erythrocytes through a mechanism different from that of the macrophage-derived stimulatory factor. In addition to their direct stimulatory effect on B-cell proliferation, lipopolysaccharide and sheep erythrocytes were each capable of modulating the production and/or release of B-cell stimulatory and inhibitory factors by the macrophage. Parallel studies of conventional mitogen- stimulated lymphocyte cultures did not show a requirement for macrophages and confirm that the semisolid assay is uniquely suited to studies on the regulatory role of the macrophage in B-cell activation.

Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) play a key role in interactions between stromal and hematopoietic cells in bone marrow (BM) and in cell traffic through vascular endothelium. To examine the identity of CAMs involved in these processes in mouse BM, we have investigated the in vivo expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and its counter-receptor, very late antigen-4 (VLA-4). Radioiodinated monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) detecting VLA-4 and VCAM-1 were injected intravenously. Antibody binding was detected in BM by light and electron microscope radioautography. VCAM-1 labeling was restricted to stromal reticular cells and endothelial cells lining BM sinusoids. VCAM- 1+ reticular cells formed patchy concentrations, especially in subosteal regions, associated with lymphoid, granulocytic, and erythroid cells. After gamma-irradiation to deplete hematopoietic cells, reticular cells and endothelial cells all showed VCAM-1 labeling in apparently increased intensity. VLA-4 labeling was shown by undifferentiated blast cells and lymphohematopoietic cells both in BM cell suspensions and in vivo, especially at reticular cell contact points. The results demonstrate that VCAM-1 is expressed in vivo by certain BM reticular cells, suggesting that the molecule mediates adhesion to multiple lineages of lymphohematopoietic cells. The finding that VCAM-1 is also expressed constitutively by BM sinusoidal endothelium, unlike its inductive expression by endothelia elsewhere, suggests that VCAM-1 and VLA-4 may be involved in regulating the normal cell traffic between BM and the blood stream.

B cells from CBA/N mice did not form colonies in semisolid agar cultures under circumstances where normal B-cell clonal proliferation is linear with respect to the number of functional cells cultured. This was no due to the unresponsiveness of CBA/N cells to mitogens, and under appropriate liquid culture conditions many CBA/N lymphocytes differentiated to plasma cells containing large amounts of IgM in response to LPS. On the other hand, the same cells proliferated and matured poorly in liquid cultures prepared at low-cell density. The frequency of granulocyte-macrophage progenitors and multipotential hemopoietic stem cells in bone marrow, ability of peritoneal macrophages to elaborate soluble enhancing factors, and levels of serum inhibitors were normal in CBA/N mice. Together with the results of cell-mixing experiments, these findings confirm the selective and intrinsic nature of the CBA/N deficiency. It is suggested that the B-cell cloning technique may be of value in selectively enumerating and assessing functional capability of thymus-independent B cells. C3H/HeJ mice which have previously only been known to be hyporesponsive to certain forms of lipopolysaccharide had a subnormal incidence of colony-forming B cells.

To further elucidate the importance of T-and B-lymphocyte-mediated responses in host defense against systemic infection with Candida albicans, we studied this infection in a murine model of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). The course of inoculation candidiasis in these mice, which lack functional T and B lymphocytes, was compared with that in immunologically normal BALB/c mice. Mice were inoculated intravenously with 105 yeast cells. Quantitative cultures of liver, spleen, and kidneys were performed with necropsy specimens obtained 1, 3, 7, 10, 14, and 21 days after this intravenous inoculation. The differences in the time courses of recovery of organisms from liver and spleen specimens were not significantly different in the SCID mice compared with the BALB/c mice. The recovery of C. albicans from the kidneys was significantly lower in the SCID mice, indicating less persistence of the organism in the kidneys of the SCID mice than in those of the BALB/c mice. These data indicate that defense mechanisms other than Tand B-lymphocyte-mediated mechanisms are primarily responsible for host defense against inoculation candidiasis.

Stromal cells are believed to regulate lympho-hematopoiesis through direct cell-cell interactions and the release of growth factors. Many questions remain, however, about their lineage derivation and functional heterogeneity. We previously prepared a panel of stromal cell lines from murine spleen and bone marrow and characterized them based on their ability to support lymphocyte growth in long-term cultures. These cells are now compared with respect to their expression of various immunoglobulin superfamily and cytokine genes by Northern blot analysis. These results indicate that although stromal cells appear to be mesodermal in origin, they are not closely related developmentally to the hematopoietic progenitor cells they support. The potential production of at least six cytokines was demonstrated. All clones constitutively expressed mRNA for macrophage colony stimulating factor, interleukin-6, transforming growth factor beta and neuroleukin. The most potent lymphocyte supporting clones also made interleukin 7 constitutively. Previous findings had suggested that these clones responded to exogenous stimuli and this has now been demonstrated in terms of induced expression of IL-6 and G/M-CSF mRNA. Interleukin 6 mRNA levels were markedly upregulated by exposure of cells to LPS, TNF, IL-1, IL-6, IL-7, and EGF. G/M-CSF mRNA levels were “superinduced” by the combination of LPS and cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor. These responses are similar to ones documented by investigators working with endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Together, these data suggest that stromal cells are a multifunctional component of the lymphopoietic microenvironment and may be active participants in a complex, cytokine-mediated regulatory network.