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B Lymphocyte Colony-Forming Cells in the SJL/J Mouse Thymus¹

From the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Royal Melbourne Hospital, P.O. 3050, Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Mercaptoethanol-induced B lymphocyte cloning in semisolid agar has been used to study lymphocyte colony formation by cells from the SJL/J mouse thymus. From the 3rd month of life, the SJL thymus develops an increasing frequency of cells forming B lymphocyte colonies in agar. The peak frequency in 6- to 12-month-old mice was one colony per 1000 to 2000 cultured thymus cells. In contrast, 10 to 100 times lower frequencies were found in the thymus of five other inbred mouse strains. The rise in B lymphocyte colony-forming cells correlated well with the age-related rise in Ig-positive cells and approximately 50% of the colony cells reacted with anti-µ-serum indicating the B lymphocyte nature of the colony cells. Colony-forming cells from the thymus showed higher sensitivity than colony-forming spleen cells to cortisol and irradiation.

Cell transfer experiments and thymus grafting suggested that the increased frequency of colony-forming cells in the thymus is caused by development of special thymus-seeking B lymphocytes in ageing SJL/J mice. Finally, B lymphocyte colony-forming cells were found to be more frequent in the thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes from healthy aged mice than in lymphoid organs from mice with spontaneous reticulum cell tumors.

Footnotes

¹ This work was supported by donations from the Danish Medical Research Council and the Danish Cancer Society, by the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria, and the National Cancer Institute, Washington, Contract NOI-CB-33854.