Immunological Reconstitution of Thymectomized Mice by Injections of Isolated Thymocytes

Cells of the different lymphoid organs in the normal adult rabbit were investigated for their capacity to respond in vitro to a number of stimuli, such as phytohemagglutinin (PHA), anti-rabbit immunoglobulin antiserum (GARIG) and allogeneic and xenogeneic lymphoid cells, and for their capacity to adsorb radioactively-labeled anti-immunoglobulin antiserum. The bone marrow cells responded minimally to PHA, GARIG, and the allogeneic and xenogeneic stimuli. The thymus cells were unable to respond to stimulation with GARIG although they responded to the other stimuli. The cells of the other lymphoid organs tested responded to all the mitogenic agents, to varying degrees. On the basis of the results presented and the findings of other investigators, it is concluded that: 1. The response of the cells to GARIG indicates a potential capacity to mediate humoral immunity and requires the presence of immunoglobulin or immunoglobulin-like recognition sites on the cell surface. 2. The response of the cells to PHA and allogeneic and xenogeneic cells indicates a potential capacity to mediate cellular immunity and does not necessitate the presence of immunoglobulin-recognition sites on the cell surface. 3. The thymus in the normal adult rabbit consists of cells capable of mediating cellular immunity only. 4. The other lymphoid organs appear to possess cells capable of mediating humoral and cellular immunity.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cells Involved in the Immune Response

Daguillard

Richter

1969

“…By contrast, 5-20 million spleen or lymph node cells were effective (21,22). Huge numbers of thymus cells (100-300 million) could however, reverse the effects of neonatal thymectomy (23,24) although no comparison was made between spleen and lymph node ceils on the one hand, and thymus cells on the other, with respect to the minimal dose required to achieve an effect. The results reported here indicate that thymus ceils were as good as thoracic duct ceils in enabling neonatally thymectomized mice to respond to sheep erythrocytes when the antigen was given together with the ceils, but 50 million thymus ceUs were inferior to 10 million thoracic duct ceils in preventing wasting disease.…”

Section: Transfer Of Thoracic Duct Cells From Mice Tolerant Of Sheep mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cell to Cell Interaction in the Immune Response

Miller

1968

525

130

An injection of viable thymus or thoracic duct lymphocytes was absolutely essential to enable a normal or near-normal 19S liemolysin-forming cell response in the spleens of neonatally thymectomized mice challenged with sheep erythrocytes. Syngeneic thymus lymphocytes were as effective as thoracic duct lymphocytes in this system and allogeneic or semiallogeneic cells could also reconstitute their hosts. No significant elevation of the response was achieved by giving either bone marrow cells, irradiated thymus or thoracic duct cells, thymus extracts or yeast. Spleen cells from reconstituted mice were exposed to anti-H2 sera directed against either the donor of the thymus or thoracic duct cells, or against the neonatally thymectomized host. Only isoantisera directed against the host could significantly reduce the number of hemolysin-forming cells present in the spleen cell suspensions. It is concluded that these antibody-forming cells are derived, not from the inoculated thymus or thoracic duct lymphocytes, but from the host. Thoracic duct cells from donors specifically immunologically tolerant of sheep erythrocytes had a markedly reduced restorative capacity in neonatally thymectomized recipients challenged with sheep erythrocytes. These results have suggested that there are cell types, in thymus or thoracic duct lymph, with capacities to react specifically with antigen and to induce the differentiation, to antibody-forming cells, of hemolysin-forming cell precursors derived from a separate cell line present in the neonatally thymectomized hosts.

“…Our prior studies, reported elsewhere (13), indicated that the immunologic reactivity of neonatally thymectomized mice, as revealed by capacity to exercise graft versus host reactions, could be restored by injections of 100 to 200 million syngeneic thymus cells during the first 15 days of life. :~ Four reconstituted survivors appeared normal when sacrificed at 14 months of age; no thymic remnants were found.…”

Section: Effect Of Administration Of Fully Dispersed Syngeneic Thymusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recent studies have shown that restoration is possible with spleen cells from donors differing from recipients at minor (non-H-2) histocompatibility loci (10), and that immunologic reconstitution is also possible with syngeneic or allogeneic, adult or newborn thymus cells (6,13). It is the purpose of this communication to present comprehensive studies involving efforts to reconstitute neonatally thymectomized mice with fully dispersed cells from syngeneic or allogeneic spleen or thymus, extensions of earlier studies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Studies on Immunologic Reconstitution of Thymectomized Mice

Yunis

Hilgard

Martínez

et al. 1965

Self Cite

1. Immunologic function, growth, and longevity of neonatally thymectomized mice was restored by intraperitoneal administration of 100 to 400 million syngeneic, hemiallogeneic, or ailogeneic thymus cells from newborn or adult donors. Assays of the graft versus host capabilities of spleen cells from the animals restored with allogeneic cells showed that their immunologically competent cells are of donor histocompatibility characteristics. Such animals accepted skin grafts from mice of the cell donor strain, but rejected skin from a third strain. 2. Similar results were obtained when the neonatally thymectomized animals were treated with 10 to 100 million syngeneic, hemiallogeneic, or allogeneic cells from adult spleen. 3. In one strain combination, C3H recipients and A donors, injected thymus or spleen cells apparently attacked host tissues, since the animals died very early of wasting disease. When this combination was reversed, A strain recipients treated with C3H cells were reconstituted immunologically and physiologically. 4. Syngeneic or allogeneic adult spleen, grafted in the newborn period, reconstituted neonatally thymectomized mice, but all experiments involving grafting of newborn spleen failed. Immunogenetic analysis of the host spleen cells from two allogeneic spleen-grafted animals previously thymectomized showed that the reconstitution was entirely of donor histocompatibility characteristics. 5. Postthymectomy wasting disease was reversed by administration of 200 million adult syngeneic spleen or thymus cells. Immunologic recovery was confirmed by graft versus host assays of the spleens of the recovered animals and by application of allogeneic skin grafts. Some of the animals have been under observation for 42 weeks and appear to be normal. 6. The wasting syndrome in neonatally thymectomized mice was also reversed by injection of 200 million hemiallogeneic or allogeneic spleen cells. 7. Thymus grafts did not reverse wasting disease, whether the donors were adult or newborn, of the same strain or a different one. 8. Spleen, lymph node, and Peyer's patches from representative animals of the reconstituted groups were examined and compared with the tissues of untreated neonatally thymectomized mice and intact animals of the same strain. Tissues of normal cellularity and follicular organization were found in some of the reconstituted animals and also in mice with reversed wasting disease. Extreme deficit of the lymphoid tissues was rare in either group.