Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol 142, 1591-1599, Copyright © 1975 by Rockefeller University Press
Synergistic and suppressive interactions among mouse T lymphocytes in the response to phytohemagglutinin
PF Piguet, HK Dewey and P Vassalli
A synergistic effect in the proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin
(PHA) can be observed in cultures containing a mixture of mouse CBA/Ca
lymph node cells (LNC) and syngeneic CBA/T6T6 thymocytes (ThC) when
compared to cultures containing only one cell type. This effect was
analyzed, at various days of culture and in LNC- ThC mixtures of different
ratios, by comparing the origin of the cells in mitosis (detected by
caryotypic analysis), the stimulation of DNA synthesis, the number of
blasts, and the percentage of blasts labeled after pulses of [3H]thymidine
(detected by autoradiography). The following conclusions were reached: (a)
ThC are induced to proliferate by the presence of LNC, while they are
almost unresponsive to PHA when cultured alone; and (b) the strongest
"synergistic" effect is exerted on LNC, whose proliferation is markedly
enhanced. Evidence is presented that this last effect is not specific to
the presence of ThC, but results from a dilution of LNC which retards the
time when the culture reaches a critical concentration of blasts, above
which proliferation progressively stops. Thus, conditions of culture
allowing the response to PHA of a low concentration of LNC leads to the
most prolonged T-cell proliferation. These observations may be relevant to
the types of T- cell interactions, "synergistic" or "suppressive,"
occurring during in vitro or in vivo immune responses.
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