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. 1973 Jun 1;137(6):1431–1441. doi: 10.1084/jem.137.6.1431

REGULATION OF THE ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO TYPE III PNEUMOCOCCAL POLYSACCHARIDE

I. NATURE OF REGULATORY CELLS

Phillip J Baker 1, Norman D Reed 1, Philip W Stashak 1, Diana F Amsbaugh 1, Benjamin Prescott 1
PMCID: PMC2139348  PMID: 4145387

Abstract

The effect of treatment with antilymphocyte serum (ALS) on the magnitude of the plaque-forming cell (PFC) response to Type III pneumococcal polysaccharide (SSS-III) was assessed in athymic nude mice and thymus-bearing littermate controls. Without ALS treatment, the PFC response was slightly higher in nude than in control mice. Treatment with ALS had no effect on the response of nude mice; however, considerable enhancement was noted in thymus-bearing controls. Such enhancement was ALS dose-dependent and demonstrable under conditions in which there was substantial inactivation of thymic-derived "helper" cells required for an antibody response to erythrocyte antigens. These findings suggest that amplifier and suppressor cells, which have been reported to regulate the magnitude of the antibody response to SSS-III, represent populations of thymic-derived cells (T cells) that are not present in nude mice. The activities of "helper" T cells and regulatory T cells appear to be independent of one another and mediated by separate subpopulations of T cells.

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Selected References

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

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