Subpopulations of mouse spleen lymphocytes. III. Cellular interactions in the response to concanavalin A.

The profile of response to concanavalin A (con A) of purified mouse T cells was found to differ appreciably from that of non-fractionated spleen cells, in agreement with results previously published by other investigators. Experiments designed to elucidate the reasons underlying these differences have revealed that the response of the spleen cells to con A is determined by a complex interplay between several cell types. (a) B cells contribute to the overall incorporation of thymidine in the presence of con A-stimulated T cells. However, the B cells participate in the response only if the T cells are dividing. (b) A population of 'adherent cells' is present in the spleen, which enhances the stimulation of the spleen cells by low doses of con A but suppresses the response to high doses of mitogen. These adherent cells include most likely the conventional macrophages, but probably also a population of 'suppressor T cells'. (c) Such 'suppressor T' cells can be readily detected among the peritoneal exudate cells. Addition of the exudate cells to cultures of purified T cells enhances the response to low doses of con A. This effect can be further increased by treating the peritoneal cells with a cell T-specific antiserum and complement, i.e. by eliminating the T cells

Subpopulations of mouse spleen lymphocytes. II. Immunological reactivity of spleen cells fractionated on bsa density gradients.

We found in previous experiments that fractionation of non-immune mouse spleen cells on bovine serum albumin density gradients yields two subpopulations of T cells, one of high, the other of low density. Both subopopulations could be stimulated in corporate thymidine by the T cell-specific mitogen concanavalin A (con A). In the present investigation, spleen cells of mice immunized to sheep red cells (SRC) were similarly fractionated and the fractions recovered were assayed for: (a) reactivity to con A; (B) REACTIVITY TO SRC and (c) capacity to function as helper cells when stimulated with the homologous (SRC) or with a heterologous (donkey red cells) (DRC) antigen. Two subpopulations of cells reacting to con A were found in the spleens of the primed mice, corresponding to the subpopulations found in the non-immune mice. Both subpopulations contained cells responding to SRC (as measured by thymidine incorporation) and cells endowed with helper activity. The two subpopulations appeared to differ, however, in their specificity: while the denser cells could only exert their helper effect when stimulated by the specific antigen, the light cells could be effectively stimulated by both the specific (SRC) and the nonspecific (DRC) antigen