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Capacity of small B cell‐enriched populations to stimulate mixed lymphocyte reactions: marked differences between irradiated vs. mitomycin C‐treated stimulators
Author(s) -
Webb Susan R.,
Li Jane Hu,
Wilson Darcy B.,
Sprent Jonathan
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
european journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.272
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1521-4141
pISSN - 0014-2980
DOI - 10.1002/eji.1830150118
Subject(s) - mixed lymphocyte reaction , biology , lymphocyte , mitomycin c , b cell , cell , microbiology and biotechnology , radiosensitivity , immunology , in vitro , irradiation , t cell , biochemistry , immune system , antibody , genetics , physics , nuclear physics
Abstract To investigate whether small B cells can stimulate mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR), highly purified populations of large vs. small B cell fractions were tested for their capacity to evoke MLR across Mls vs. H‐2 barriers. Large B cell fractions stimulated high MLR to Mls and H‐2 determinants, irrespective of whether the stimulators were exposed to irradiation or pretreated with mitomycin C. In accord with the findings of others, irradiated small B cell fractions proved to be very poor stimulators of MLR. Significantly, however, mitomycin C‐treated small B cell fractions elicited high MLR, particularly to Mls determinants. The finding that small B cell fractions treated with irradiation are poor stimulators of T cells correlates with the known radiosensitivity of B cells. In this respect, the widely held view that small B cells do not have antigen‐presenting cell (APC) function rests largely on studies with irradiated B cells. The present finding that T cells respond well to small B cells treated with mitomycin C, however, indicates that small B cell fractions do have APC function. Whether the APC function of small B cells reflects a response to resting B cells per se rather than to cells undergoing activation in vitro , however, remains to be ascertained.