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Presence of Impairment of Humoral Immunity in Nonadherent Spleen Cells of Old Mice¹

From the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, and the Laboratory of Cellular and Comparative Physiology, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Baltimore, Maryland 21224

Abstract

Spleen cells from aged mice when cultured in vitro with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) generate fewer antibody-forming cells than do cells from young mice. To define further the nature of the decrease in response with age, we separated spleen cell suspensions from young and old mice into two populations on the basis of their ability to adhere to plastic Petri dishes and their activity was assessed in various combinations with SRBC. Old adherent cells cultured with young nonadherent cells responded fully to the antigen, whereas old nonadherent cells combined with young adherent cells gave a response comparable to unseparated old spleen cells. Similar results were obtained when adherent cells were exposed to SRBC, washed free of the antigen, then recombined with the nonadherent cells. The results demonstrate that the adherent cells of old spleens are indistinguishable from those of young spleens in their ability to initiate antibody response, but the activity of nonadherent cells of old spleens is impaired.

Footnotes

¹ This research was sponsored by the United States Atomic Energy Commission under contract with the Union Carbide Corporation. A portion of the work was presented at the annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, April 1972, Atlantic City, New Jersey.

² National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Trainee supported by Grant HD-0296 from The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

³ Present address: Gerontology Research Center, Baltimore City Hospitals, Baltimore, Maryland 21224.