B-lymphocyte responses to trinitrophenyl-Ficoll: II. Decreased splenic adherent cell function in mice expressing the xid gene

Abstract

These studies were done to assess the functional competence for trinitrophenyl (TNP)-Ficoll plaque-forming cell (PFC) responses of T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and splenic adherent cells (SAC) from xid-defective male mice. Splenic T cells from xid-defective (N X B/c)F1 males were as efficient as T cells from normal (N × B/c)F1 females in reconstituting PFC responses in vitro to TNP-Ficoll and TNP-GAT ( l-glutamic acid 60- l-alanine 30- l-tyrosine 10) when added to anti-Thy 1.2 + complement (C)-treated splenocytes. B lymphocytes from mice expressing the xid genetic defect, even in the presence of functional (N × B/c)F1 female adherent cells and T lymphocytes, did not develop in vitro PFC responses to TNP-Ficoll. SAC from defective male mice and normal female mice reconstituted a PFC response to TNP-GAT equally well when added to adherent-cell-depleted (N X B/c)F1 female splenocytes. Yet SAC prepared from such male mice were consistently less efficient than SAC from female mice in reconstituting PFC responses by adherent-cell-depleted female splenocytes to TNP-Ficoll. This finding of a selective SAC abnormality in xid-defective mice provides evidence for a functional heterogeneity among antigen-presenting cells.