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Enhancing Activity of Thymocyte Culture Cell-Free Medium on the in vitro Immune Response of Spleen Cells from Neonatally Thymectomized Mice to Sheep RBC¹

From the CNEN-Euratom Immunogenetics Group, Laboratory of Animal Radiobiology, C.S.N. Casaccia (Rome), Italy

Abstract

Peripheral lymphoid tissues are made up of mixed populations of thymus-dependent and thymus-independent lymphocytes. In the mouse immunized with sheep red blood cells (RBC), specific antibodies are produced by thymus-independent cells upon interaction with thymus-dependent cells and the antigen (1). The nature of this interaction is not understood, but several mechanisms have been proposed (2). Our previous studies (3) have shown that cooperation between thymocytes from normal mice and splenocytes from neonatally thymectomized mice or from thymectomized chimeras (mice thymectomized in adult life, lethally irradiated, and grafted with isogenic bone marrow cells) can occur in vitro, because a primary immune response could be induced in vitro only if both the thymocytes and thymus-independent cells were cultured with sheep RBC. This in vitro system was used to investigate whether receptor sites are involved in the cooperation between thymocytes and splenocytes from neonatally thymectomized mice.

Footnotes

¹ This work was supported by CNEN-Euratom Association Contract. Publication No. 732 of the Euratom Biology Division.