Cell to Cell Interaction in the Immune Response

Abstract

An interaction between thymus or thoracic duct cells and antibody-forming cell precursors has been implicated in the response of mice to sheep erythrocytes (1). The possibility was raised that the thymus contributes cells to the circulating pool of lymphocytes which recognize antigen (ARC) and which influence the differentiation of antibody-forming cell precursors (AFCP) to hemolysin-forming cells. The experimental system employing reconstituted neonatally thymectomized mice failed to detect the existence of AFCP in inoculated lymphoid cell suspensions.Previous work from this laboratory (2) had demonstrated that thoracic duct and spleen cells were capable of affecting the appearance of hemolytic foci in the spleens of heavily irradiated recipients injected with sheep erythrocytes. If such loci represent clusters of antibody-forming cells, then either the inoculum must contain cells potentially capable of producing hemolysins, or the host must provide AFCP which are extremely radio-resistant.In this paper, we present the results of experiments designed to determine whether both ARC and AFCP are present in populations of cells from thymus, thoracic duct lymph, or bone marrow. Materials and MethodsA,imals.--Mice of the highly inbred strains CBA and C57BL, and Ft hybrids from crosses between these strains were used. The origin and maintenance of these mice have been described in the previous paper (1).Cell suspensions were prepared as before (1). 0t~¢ra~i~e Procedures.--Thymeetomy or sham operation was performed in young adult mice, 4--6 wk old, as previously described (3). Checks for the presence of thymus remnants

Density Distribution Analysis of Antigen Sensitive Cells in the Rat

“…Since that time there has occurred in the literature, evidence that in some strains of mice and with some antigens there can exist a synergistic effect of two different cell populations (17,18). In a two cell system, then, fractionation of a mixed population of cells into a large number of different fractions could lead to fractions which had lost one or both of the two cells needed for the immune response.…”

Altered Migration, Recruitment, and Somatic Hypermutation in the Early Response of Marginal Zone B Cells to T Cell-Dependent Antigen

“…Ab responses to SRBC are classically considered to be TD (22,23). To determine whether this was also true for the response of SW HEL HEL ϩ B cells to HEL-SRBC in the current adoptive transfer system, SW HEL ϫ BALB/c spleen cells were cotransferred with HEL-SRBC into T cell-deficient nu/nu (athymic) mice or WT syngeneic (BALB/c) controls.…”

“…into WT CD45.1 ϩ congenic recipients together with 2 ϫ 10 8 HEL-SRBCs. SRBC was used as a carrier to provide a strong source of primary T cell help (18,22,23). To ensure that HEL ϩ B cells were not in vast excess over the available SRBCspecific T cell help, the number of transferred cells was limited so as to contain only 1 ϫ 10 4 HEL ϩ B cells.…”

Translating Molecular Insights in Autoimmunity into Effective Therapy

“…With Graeme Mitchell, he had just published a series of three landmark papers (9)(10)(11) documenting that thymus-derived lymphocytes did not in themselves make antibody or develop into antibodyforming cells, but rather interacted with and activated bone marrow-derived antibodyforming cell precursors. He had also recently been elected a fellow of the Royal Society, ahead of the other two scientific giants at WEHI, Gus Nossal and Don Metcalf.…”