Mechanisms Of Unresponsiveness Research Articles

Immunological unresponsiveness to thymus-independent antigens: two fundamentally different genetic mechanisms of B-cell unresponsiveness to dextran

The immune response of mice to the alpha-l-6 epitope of dextran (Dx) B512 was found to be under genetic control. The congenic mouse strains A, A.CA, A.SW, A.TH, and A.TL exhibited a specific defect in their response to alpha-l-6. Also strain CBA/N was unresponsive to alpha-1-6, but the mechanism of unresponsiveness was found to be different. Unresponsiveness to alpha-l-6 in congenic A strains was not due to suppressor cells. Although these strains failed to respond to the alpha-l-6 epitope, they responded strongly to the hapten Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conjugated to Dx, indicating that the Dx can function as an efficient carrier in these strains. Dx was a potent polyclonal B-cell activator in congenic A strains as well as in high responder strains. Polyclonally-activating concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) failed to induce the synthesis of anti-alpha- l-6 antibodies in congenic A strains, although antibodies of all other specificities studied were produced. However, in high responder strains, LPS induced the synthesis of anti-alpha-l-6 antibodies. It was concluded that congenic A strains do not express V genes coding for antibodies against alpha-l-6. In contrast, strain CBA/N failed to respond to both the alpha-l-6 and FITC epitope on Dx, whereas they could respond to FITC conjugated to horse erythrocytes. Dx induced a very small, if any, polyclonal antibody response in B cells from CBA/N mice or male CBA/N x DBA hybrids, whereas Dx was a very potent polyclonal B-cell activator in female hybrids. It is concluded that CBA/N mice are nonresponders to Dx or haptenated Dx, because the cell population that can respond to the polyclonal B-cell activating properties of Dx is severely depleted.

In Vitro Studies of the Genetically Determined Unresponsiveness to Thymus-Independent Antigens in CBA/N Mice

The X-chromosome-linked B lymphocyte defect of CBA/N mice has been studied in vitro by comparing the ability of (CBA/N X DBA/2)F1 (X-/X- X X+/Y) male (X-/Y) and female (X-/X+) spleen cells to respond to the thymus-independent antigen DNP (or TNP)-AECM-Ficoll. (CBA/N X DBA/2)F1 male spleen cells failed to generate significant in vitro anti-TNP antibody responses to DNP- or TNP-AECM-Ficoll, in contrast to spleen cells from F1 female (X-/X+) mice which responded normally to these T-independent antigens. Spleen cells from male F1 mice responded almost as well as F1 female cells to the thymus-dependent antigen, TNP-sheep red blood cells (TNP-SRBC) in vitro. Adding F1 male cells to F1 female cells failed to reduce the response of the latter to DNP-AECM-Ficoll, suggesting that the inability of F1 male cells to respond was not due to active suppression. The response of F1 male spleen cells to TNP-SRBC was not impaired by adding high concentrations of TNP-AECM-Ficoll indicating that the mechanism of unresponsiveness was not tolerance induction in all TNP-specific precursors. Lymphocytes from F1 male mice were capable of forming anti-TNP antibody after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in high concentrations; DNP-AECM-Ficoll had no effect on this polyclonal response. B lymphocytes from mice bearing only the X-chromosome of the CBA/N strain thus display a profound defect in B cell activation. This functional defect may represent either an inability of the defective B cells to be activated by thymus-independent antigens or the absence of a sub-class of B cells which respond to thymus-independent antigens.

The mechanism of unresponsiveness in lymphocytes specifically selected by antigen in normal rats.

The immunological potentialities of populations of thoracic duct lymphocytes collected from rats recently challenged with sheep erythrocytes were compared with those of lymphocytes from rats immunologically tolerant of this antigen. Both "selected" and tolerant populations fail to mount immune responses to sheep erythrocytes in irradiated syngeneic hosts but can do so if transferred to semi-allogeneic recipients. If co-cultivated with normal lymphocytes in irradiated hosts, both types of population can modulate the responsiveness of the former to sheep erythrocytes. Supplementation of normal lymphocytes with "selected" populations collected earlier than 28 hours after challenge of the donors tends to result in augmented responses while later collections are more likely to be associated with suppression. Consequently, it is suggested that "selected" populations are unresponsive because of the presence of specifically activated cells rather than as a result of their depletion. The influence of "selected" populations on the responsiveness of normal lymphocytes is attributed to this content of activated cells.