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ANTIGENS IN IMMUNITY XIII. THE ANTIGEN CONTENT OF SINGLE ANTIBODY‐FORMING CELLS EARLY IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY IMMUNE RESPONSES
Author(s) -
Nossal GJV,
Williams GM,
Austin Caroline M
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
australian journal of experimental biology and medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0004-945X
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1967.60
Subject(s) - antigen , antibody , immune system , population , lymph node , primary and secondary antibodies , immunology , biology , chemistry , pathology , medicine , environmental health
Summary A study was performed on the question of whether antibody‐forming cells taken at the earliest stages of primary and secondary immune responses contain significant antigen within them. Rats were immunized via the hind foot pads with 125 I‐labelled Salmonell adelaide flagella, antibody‐forming cells were identified and isolated by micromanipulation techniques and their content of 125 I was determined by quantitative autoradiography. In contrast to previous findings on the late IgG phase of the primary response, a significant minority of the young cells studied here contained detectable antigen‐derived material. In the popliteal node, 18/165 cells in the primary response and 57/114 cells in the secondary response were labelled. In lymphoid organs more remote from the antigen depot site smaller proportions of cells were labelled, and again labelling was more extensive in the secondary response. However, when free‐floating cells from thoracic duct lymph were examined, none of 186 antibody‐forming cells were labelled. The biggest single factor influencing the proportion of labelled antibody‐formers was the antigen dose. With doses smaller than 1 μg., only 1 in 53 popliteal node cells was labelled, even though the population studied contained mainly primitive cells. Preferred sites for the occurrence of label were the very surface of the cell and the nucleus. However, about half the cells showed diffusely scattered label. Cells judged to be immature by cytological criteria were more frequently labelled than mature plasma cells. The results did not allow us to decide whether the antigen in and on certain antibody‐forming cells was playing an inductive role or whether it represented simply an epiphenomenon reflecting the close contact between lymphoid cells and antigen depot sites in lymphoid tissue.