Abstract
When the thymus from an AKR mouse (TL-, θ-AKR) is grafted to a BALB/c-nu/nu mouse (TL2, θ-C3H), the grafted thymus is rapidly repopulated by host lymphocytes, i.e., lymphocytes having the TL2 and θ-C3H T-lymphocyte membrane antigen markers. θ-C3H lymphocytes also appear rapidly in the spleen and lymph nodes. After a few weeks, BALB/c nude mice grafted with AKR thymus and normal BALB/c mice could not be distinguished on the basis of the number of TL-positive thymocytes or θ-C3H-positive lymphocytes in thymus, spleen, or lymph nodes. These experiments give a definitive proof of the existence of precursor cells for the T compartment of the lymphoid system in the nude mouse. They strongly suggest the involvement of host-derived T cells in the recovery of some T-cell functions by nude mice grafted with allogeneic thymuses.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (809.9 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- De Sousa M. A., Parrott D. M., Pantelouris E. M. The lymphoid tissues in mice with congenital aplasia of the thymus. Clin Exp Immunol. 1969 Jun;4(6):637–644. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Loor F., Forni L., Pernis B. The dynamic state of the lymphocyte membrane. Factors affecting the distribution and turnover of surface immunoglobulins. Eur J Immunol. 1972 Jun;2(3):203–212. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830020304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pantelouris E. M. Absence of thymus in a mouse mutant. Nature. 1968 Jan 27;217(5126):370–371. doi: 10.1038/217370a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pantelouris E. M. Observations on the immunobiology of 'nude' mice. Immunology. 1971 Feb;20(2):247–252. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pritchard H., Micklem H. S. Haemopoietic stem cells and progenitors of functional T-lymphocytes in the bone marrow of 'nude' mice. Clin Exp Immunol. 1973 Aug;14(4):597–607. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Raff M. C. Surface antigenic markers for distinguishing T and B lymphocytes in mice. Transplant Rev. 1971;6:52–80. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1971.tb00459.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 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]
- Weiler E., Weiler I. J. Unequal association of mouse allotypes with antibodies of different specificities. Studies with a plaque assay procedure employing poly-D- and poly-L-alanine as haptenes. J Immunol. 1968 Nov;101(5):1044–1058. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wortis H. H. Immunological responses of 'nude' mice. Clin Exp Immunol. 1971 Feb;8(2):305–317. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wortis H. H., Nehlsen S., Owen J. J. Abnormal development of the thymus in "nude" mice. J Exp Med. 1971 Sep 1;134(3 Pt 1):681–692. doi: 10.1084/jem.134.3.681. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]