Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1971 May 1;133(5):1043–1060. doi: 10.1084/jem.133.5.1043

FURTHER STUDIES OF ANTIGENIC COMPETITION

III. A MODEL TO ACCOUNT FOR THE PHENOMENON BASED ON A DEFICIENCY OF CELL-TO-CELL INTERACTION IN IMMUNE LYMPHOID CELL POPULATIONS

R S Kerbel 1, David Eidinger 1
PMCID: PMC2138918  PMID: 5554099

Abstract

A striking correlation between the capacity of an antigen to nonspecifically suppress humoral immune responses of subsequently administered antigens which are non-cross-reacting, i.e. to manifest antigenic competition and produce enlargement of spleen size through cell proliferation, was found. Increase in spleen size was always accompanied by a drop in the normal proportion of thymus-derived cells to non-thymus-derived cells. Various means of altering the immune response to the initial antigen, and hence, the capacity of that antigen to suppress in a model of antigenic competition were performed and correlated with changes in spleen size and in the proportion of θ-positive cells in the spleen. In all instances, when the experimental condition reduced or abolished antigenic competition, the increase in spleen size and reduction in the proportion of θ-positive cells in the spleen was reduced or abolished. Furthermore, under conditions in which the suppressive capacity of the initial antigen was unaltered, the increase in spleen size and reduction in θ-proportion occurred normally. Finally, the better the suppression in a model of antigenic competition, the greater the increase in spleen size and reduction in the proportion of θ-positive cells. On the basis of these observations, it appears that there is a relationship between spleen enlargement through clonally restricted cell proliferation and the expression of antigenic competition; one cannot have the latter without the former. It is postulated that the immunological lesion associated with antigenic competition resides at the level of interference with cell interaction between thymus-derived antigen-reactive cells and marrow-derived antibody-forming cells. This occurs as a result of a relative "diluting out" of cells of both populations carrying antigenic specificity differing from the one(s) which induced the dilution effect in the first place. The net effect of this is to decrease the chance of a "hit" or interaction between a marrow-derived and thymus-derived cell of the same specificities. This mechanism, which is compatible with theories of clonal selection, and which in fact is dependent upon them, supports the view that the term "antigenic competition" is a misnomer; there is no competition by the antigens for anything. The term "antigen-induced suppression" is suggested as a more suitable alternative.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (901.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ABRAMOFF P. Competition of antigens. I. The effect of a secondary response to one antigen on the primary response to a heterologous antigen administered at the same time. J Immunol. 1960 Dec;85:648–655. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. ABRAMOFF P., WOLFE H. R. Precipitin production in chickens. XIII. A quantitative study of the effect of simultaneous injection of two antigens. J Immunol. 1956 Aug;77(2):94–101. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Albright J. F., Omer T. F., Deitchman J. W. Antigen competition: antigens compete for a cell occurring with limited frequency. Science. 1970 Jan 9;167(3915):196–198. doi: 10.1126/science.167.3915.196. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Armstrong W. D., Diener E., Shellam G. R. Antigen-reactive cells in normal, immunized, and tolerant mice. J Exp Med. 1969 Feb 1;129(2):393–410. doi: 10.1084/jem.129.2.393. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. BOYSE E. A., OLD L. J., CHOUROULINKOV I. CYTOTOXIC TEST FOR DEMONSTRATION OF MOUSE ANTIBODY. Methods Med Res. 1964;10:39–47. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Claman H. N., Chaperon E. A., Triplett R. F. Immunocompetence of transferred thymus-marrow cell combinations. J Immunol. 1966 Dec;97(6):828–832. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Cohen A., Schlesinger M. Absorption of guinea pig serum with agar. A method for elimination of itscytotoxicity for murine thymus cells. Transplantation. 1970 Jul;10(1):130–132. doi: 10.1097/00007890-197007000-00027. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dukor P., Dietrich F. M. The immune response to heterologous red cells in mice. V. The effect of cyclophosphamide and cortisone on antigenic competition. J Immunol. 1970 Jul;105(1):118–125. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hanna M. G., Jr, Peters L. C. The effect of antigen competition on both the primary and secondary immune capacity in mice. J Immunol. 1970 Jan;104(1):166–177. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. LIACOPOULOS P., NEVEU T. NON-SPECIFIC INHIBITION OF THE IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED TYPES OF HYPERSENSITIVITY DURING IMMUNE PARALYSIS OF ADULT GUINEA-PIGS. Immunology. 1964 Jan;7:26–39. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Liacopoulos P., Herlem S. G. Inhibitory effect of a tolerated antigen on antibody production to a second antigen. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1968;34(1):95–101. doi: 10.1159/000230098. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mitchell G. F., Miller J. F. Cell to cell interaction in the immune response. II. The source of hemolysin-forming cells in irradiated mice given bone marrow and thymus or thoracic duct lymphocytes. J Exp Med. 1968 Oct 1;128(4):821–837. doi: 10.1084/jem.128.4.821. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Playfair J. H. Specific tolerance to sheep erythrocytes in mouse bone marrow cells. Nature. 1969 May 31;222(5196):882–883. doi: 10.1038/222882a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Radovich J., Talmage D. W. Antigenic competition: cellular or humoral. Science. 1967 Oct 27;158(3800):512–514. doi: 10.1126/science.158.3800.512. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Raff M. C., Sternberg M., Taylor R. B. Immunoglobulin determinants on the surface of mouse lymphoid cells. Nature. 1970 Feb 7;225(5232):553–554. doi: 10.1038/225553a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Raff M. C., Wortis H. H. Thymus dependence of theta-bearing cells in the peripheral lymphoid tissues of mice. Immunology. 1970 Jun;18(6):931–942. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Reif A. E., Allen J. M. Mouse thymic iso-antigens. Nature. 1966 Jan 29;209(5022):521–523. doi: 10.1038/209521b0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. SELL S., GELL P. G. STUDIES ON RABBIT LYMPHOCYTES IN VITRO. I. STIMULATION OF BLAST TRANSFORMATION WITH AN ANTIALLOTYPE SERUM. J Exp Med. 1965 Aug 1;122:423–440. doi: 10.1084/jem.122.2.423. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Schechter I. Antigenic competition between polypeptidyl determinants in normal and tolerant rabbits. J Exp Med. 1968 Feb 1;127(2):237–250. doi: 10.1084/jem.127.2.237. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Schlesinger M., Yron I. Antigenic changes in lymph-node cells after administration of antiserum to thymus cells. Science. 1969 Jun 20;164(3886):1412–1413. doi: 10.1126/science.164.3886.1412. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Taylor R. B. Cellular cooperation in the antibody response of mice to two serum albumins: specific function of thymus cells. Transplant Rev. 1969;1:114–149. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1969.tb00138.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES