Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1972 Nov 30;136(6):1461–1477. doi: 10.1084/jem.136.6.1461

IMMUNOLOGIC PROPERTIES OF MOUSE THYMUS CELLS

IDENTIFICATION OF T CELL FUNCTIONS WITHIN A MINOR, LOW-DENSITY SUBPOPULATION

Susumu Konda 1, Yoshinobu Nakao 1, Richard T Smith 1
PMCID: PMC2139338  PMID: 4404879

Abstract

The functional attributes of minor subpopulations of mouse thymus cells derived by bovine serum albumin density gradient centrifugation, cortisone treatment, or selective depletion by anti-TL or anti-θ treatment have been examined. A subpopulation derived in each fashion contains the cells required to evoke graft-versus-host reactions in neonatal F1 hybrid recipients and to be stimulated by alloantigens in vitro in one-way mixed lymphocyte cultures and by phytohemagglutinin. The functions of this subpopulation are abrogated by treatment with anti-H-2 plus complement and by high concentrations of anti-θ. A tentative ordering of the various thymus cell subpopulations, on the basis of these and other data, is described.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (935.4 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Adler W. H., Peavy D., Smith R. T. The effect of PHA, PPD, allogeneic cells, and sheep erythrocytes on albumin gradient-fractionated mouse spleen cell populations. Cell Immunol. 1970 May;1(1):78–91. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(70)90062-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Adler W. H., Takiguchi T., Marsh B., Smith R. T. Cellular recognition by mouse lymphocytes in vitro. I. Definition of a new technique and results of stimulation by phytohemagglutinin and specific antigens. J Exp Med. 1970 Jun 1;131(6):1049–1078. doi: 10.1084/jem.131.6.1049. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Adler W. H., Takiguchi T., Marsh B., Smith R. T. Cellular recognition by mouse lymphocytes in vitro. II. Specific stimulation by histocompatibility antigens in mixed cell culture. J Immunol. 1970 Oct;105(4):984–1000. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Andersson B., Blomgren H. Evidence for a small pool of immunocompetent cells in the mouse thymus. Its role in the humoral antibody response against sheep erythrocytes, bovine serum albumin, ovalbumin and the NIP determinant. Cell Immunol. 1970 Oct;1(4):362–371. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(70)90014-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Blomgren H., Andersson B. Characteristics of the immunocompetent cells in the mouse thymus: cell population changes during cortisone-induced atrophy and subsequent regeneration. Cell Immunol. 1970 Nov;1(5):545–560. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(70)90041-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Blomgren H., Andersson B. Evidence for a small pool of immunocompetent cells in the mouse thymus. Exp Cell Res. 1969 Oct;57(2):185–192. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(69)90140-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Blomgren H., Svedmyr E. In vitro stimulation of mouse thymus cells by PHA and allogeneic cells. Cell Immunol. 1971 Aug;2(4):285–299. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(71)90063-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Blomgren H., Takasugi M., Friberg S., Jr Specific cytotoxicity by sensitized mouse thymus cells on tissue culture target cells. Cell Immunol. 1970 Dec;1(6):619–631. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(70)90027-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Bryant B. J. Lymphoproliferative cycles in the thymus cortex. J Immunol. 1971 Dec;107(6):1791–1794. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. 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]
  11. Cohen J. J., Fschbach M., Claman H. N. Hydrocortisne resistance of graft vs host activity in mouse thymus, spleen and bone marrow. J Immunol. 1970 Nov;105(5):1146–1150. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gershon R. K., Cohen P., Hencin R., Liebhaber S. A. Suppressor T cells. J Immunol. 1972 Mar;108(3):586–590. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mosier D., Cantor H. Functional maturation of mouse thymic lymphocytes. Eur J Immunol. 1971 Dec;1(6):459–461. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830010610. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Old L. J., Stockert E., Boyse E. A., Kim J. H. Antigenic modulation. Loss of TL antigen from cells exposed to TL antibody. Study of the phenomenon in vitro. J Exp Med. 1968 Mar 1;127(3):523–539. doi: 10.1084/jem.127.3.523. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pelet J., Brunner K. T., Nordin A. A., Cerottini J. C. The relative distribution of cytotoxic lymphocytes and of alloantibody-forming cells in albumin density gradients. Eur J Immunol. 1971 Aug;1(4):238–242. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830010405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. SIMONSEN M. Graft versus host reactions. Their natural history, and applicability as tools of research. Prog Allergy. 1962;6:349–467. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Schimpl A., Wecker E. Reconstitution of a thymus cell-deprived immune system by syngeneic and allogeneic thymocytes in vitro. Eur J Immunol. 1971 Aug;1(4):304–306. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830010419. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Takiguchi T., Adler W. H., Smith R. T. Identification of mouse thymus antigen recognition function in a minor, low-density, low-theta cell subpopulation. Cell Immunol. 1971 Aug;2(4):373–380. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(71)90072-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. van Dicke KA Hooft J. I., van Bekkum D. W. The selective elimination of immunologically competent cells from bone marrow and lymphatic cell mixtures. II. Mouse spleen cell fractionation on a discontinuous albumin gradient. Transplantation. 1968 Jul;6(4):562–570. doi: 10.1097/00007890-196807000-00009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES