title: Studies on age-related functional changes in regulatory T cells and B cells involved in the autoantibody production of MRL/MpJ- +/+ mice.
abstract: Age-related changes in anti-DNA autoantibody production of MRL/MpJ- +/+ mice were investigated. In lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cultures, spleen cells of the mice showed an age-related, marked increase in the ability to produce IgG class of the autoantibody after the age of 12 months, while they showed a tendency to decrease with age in the production of IgM class of the autoantibody. Serum levels of anti-DNA autoantibodies rose markedly in the IgG autoantibody but not in the IgM autoantibody after 12 months of age, which is well consistent with the observation in the LPS-stimulated cultures. T cell-depleted spleen cells, however, showed only a small increase with age in the IgG autoantibody productive ability. These results suggest that the age-associated increase in the IgG autoantibody production in the mice is under T-cell control. Age-associated changes in suppressor capacity in spleen cells of the mice were also investigated. Suppressive activity of the cells stimulated by 2-day incubation with concanavalin A (Con A) showed a clear increase as the donor age advanced, when assayed on the LPS-stimulated anti-DNA autoantibody production in vitro. The results indicate that, in MRL/MpJ-+/+ mice, suppressor capacity does not decline with age and is not related as a cause to the autoantibody production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hosokawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marui
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rokutan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aoike
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawai
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D004247:DNA / Q000276:immunology; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051379:Mice; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D003208:Concanavalin A; D004247:DNA