Abstract
The effect of the polyclonal T-cell activators (PTA) Con A and PHA on the specific immune response to sheep red blood cells (SRC) was studied. Addition of PTA either enhanced or suppressed the anti-SRC response, and two variables were found to affect the results: time of addition of the PTA and the strength of the response in control cultures not given PTA. If the response was high, even suboptimal PTA concentrations induced suppressive effects, but if the control response was low, due to deficient batches of sera or because of the absence of serum, the addition of PTA increased the response or restored it to normal levels. Suppression could be obtained if the PTA were added before or at the same time as the antigen and required high (optimal) PTA concentrations. If addition was delayed for 12-24 h the suppressive effects disappeared and previously suppressive concentrations of the PTA now caused an enhanced response. Analogous results were obtained if preactivated lymphocytes were added to the cultures instead of soluble PTA. Neither Con A, PHA, or lymphocytes preactivated by these PTA suppressed the polyclonal response induced by LPS or PPD. Irrespective of the time of addition and the culture conditions, enhancement of the anti-SRC response occurred at lower PTA concentrations than suppression. It was concluded that suppressor T cells, if they exist, do not act on B cells, but rather on helper cells needed for induction of thymus-dependent responses. The findings in this system are not compatible with the existence of a specific subset of suppressor T cells, but rather with the notion that suppression is caused by too much help.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (806.6 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bullock W. W., Möller E. "Spontaneous" B cell activation due to loss of normal mouse serum suppressor. Eur J Immunol. 1972 Dec;2(6):514–517. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830020609. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cantor H., Shen F. W., Boyse E. A. Separation of helper T cells from suppressor T cells expressing different Ly components. II. Activation by antigen: after immunization, antigen-specific suppressor and helper activities are mediated by distinct T-cell subclasses. J Exp Med. 1976 Jun 1;143(6):1391–1340. doi: 10.1084/jem.143.6.1391. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dutton R. W. Inhibitory and stimulatory effects of concanavalin A on the response of mouse spleen cell suspensions to antigen. I. Characterization of the inhibitory cell activity. J Exp Med. 1972 Dec 1;136(6):1445–1460. doi: 10.1084/jem.136.6.1445. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dutton R. W. Suppressor T cells. Transplant Rev. 1975;26:39–55. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1975.tb00174.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Eardley D. D., Staskawicz M. O., Gershon R. K. Suppressor cells: dependence on assay conditions for functional activity. J Exp Med. 1976 May 1;143(5):1211–1219. doi: 10.1084/jem.143.5.1211. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Herzenberg L. A., Okumura K., Cantor H., Sato V. L., Shen F. W., Boyse E. A., Herzenberg L. A. T-cell regulation of antibody responses: demonstration of allotype-specific helper T cells and their specific removal by suppressor T cells. J Exp Med. 1976 Aug 1;144(2):330–344. doi: 10.1084/jem.144.2.330. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jandinski J., Cantor H., Tadakuma T., Peavy D. L., Pierce C. W. Separation of helper T cells from suppressor T cells expressing different Ly components. I. Polyclonal activation: suppressor and helper activities are inherent properties of distinct T-cell subclasses. J Exp Med. 1976 Jun 1;143(6):1382–1390. doi: 10.1084/jem.143.6.1382. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Knopf P. M., Destree A., Hyman R. Antibody-induced changes in expression of an immunoglobulin surface antigen. Eur J Immunol. 1973 May;3(5):351–359. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830030502. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mishell R. I., Dutton R. W. Immunization of dissociated spleen cell cultures from normal mice. J Exp Med. 1967 Sep 1;126(3):423–442. doi: 10.1084/jem.126.3.423. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Möller G. Off-signals in lymphocyte activation. Scand J Immunol. 1976;5(5):583–586. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1976.tb00313.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Peavy D. L., Pierce C. W. Cell-mediated immune responses in vitro. I. Suppression of the generation of cytotoxic lymphocytes by concanavalin A and concanavalin A-activated spleen cells. J Exp Med. 1974 Aug 1;140(2):356–369. doi: 10.1084/jem.140.2.356. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rich R. R., Pierce C. W. Biological expressions of lymphocyte activation : I. Effects of phytomitogens on antibody synthesis in vitro. J Exp Med. 1973 Jan 31;137(2):205–223. doi: 10.1084/jem.137.2.205. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Scavulli J., Dutton R. W. Competition between concanavalin A-induced stimulatory and inhibitory effects in the in vitro immune response to antigen. J Exp Med. 1975 Feb 1;141(2):524–529. doi: 10.1084/jem.141.2.524. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sjöberg O., Möller G., Andersson J. Reconstitution of immunocompetence in B cells by addition of concanavalin A or concanavalin A-treated thymus cells. Clin Exp Immunol. 1973 Feb;13(2):213–223. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tse H., Dutton R. W. Separation of helper and suppressor T lymphocytes on a ficoll velocity sedimentation gradient. J Exp Med. 1976 May 1;143(5):1199–1210. doi: 10.1084/jem.143.5.1199. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]