HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lemke, H. Articles by Opitz, H.-G. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Lemke, H. Articles by Opitz, H.-G.

Function of 2-Mercaptoethanol as a Macrophage Substitute in the Primary Immune Response in Vitro¹

Division of Immunobiology, Wallenberglaboratory, Karolinska Institutet, 104 05 Stockholm 50, Sweden and the Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Ulm, Germany

Abstract

The mechanism by which 2-ME acts as a macrophagesubstitute for the induction of a primary PFC response to SRC in vitro was studied in macrophage-depleted mouse spleen cell cultures. 2-ME could replace macrophages only in FCS-supplemented cultures. Evidence is presented that the function of 2-ME is independent of residual macrophages. Neither normal nor macrophage-depleted spleen cell cultures from congenitally athymic nude mice supplemented with 2-ME, with or without FCS, could give rise to a primary in vitro anti-SRC immune response.

2-ME, at an optimal concentration of 10^-5 M, induced DNA synthesis in normal and macrophage-depleted spleen cells in both FCS-containing and serum-free cultures. The peak response occurred on day 3. This stimulation was accompanied by a polyclonal B cell activation to antibody secretion which was much more pronounced in FCS-containing than in serum-free cultures. Spleen cells from nude mice showed a weaker DNA stimulation than did cells from normal mice in FCS-containing cultures, and nearly no response under serum-free conditions. T cells obtained by a nylon column adherence method from normal mouse spleen cells showed good DNA synthetic responses in FCS-containing, but no response in serum-free cultures.

These results show that 2-ME has weak mitogenic activity for B cells, and in combination with FCS, strong mitogenic activity for T cells. Since the macrophage provides stimulation to the T cell in the primary anti-SRC PFC response in vitro, these results suggest that the direct mitogenic activity of 2-ME with FCS on T cells provides the functional substitution for macrophages.

Footnotes

¹ This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Medical Research Council.

² The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft supported H. L. by a research fellowship and H.-G. O. through the Sonderforschungsbereich 112.

³ Present address: Division of Immunology, Hygiene Institut, Brunswicker Strasse 2–6, Kiel, Germany.