Suppressor T cells for delayed-type hypersensitivity in susceptible mice infected with Mycobacterium lepraemurium.
Spleen cells from immunodepressed C3H mice, i.e., mice inoculated intravenously 4 months earlier with 1 X 10(7) Mycobacterium lepraemurium (Mlm) bacilli, were separated into different populations, and the T-cell-enriched population was treated further with gamma-irradiation or specific anti-Lyt antibodies plus complement. The cell populations obtained were then adoptively transferred to normal and Mlm-sensitized syngeneic mice in order to investigate whether or not suppressor cells regulate the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction to specific antigens. A radiosensitive cell population expressing the Lyt 1+, 2+ phenotype had the capacity to depress the induction (afferent phase) of DTH reaction. In contrast, a radioresistant cell population expressing the Lyt 1+, 2- phenotype possessed the capacity to depress the expression (efferent phase) of the cutaneous reaction. Thus, distinct populations of suppressor cells, each regulating a different phase of DTH, are induced in the spleen of Mlm-infected mice.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000276:immunology*; D007116:Immunization, Passive; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D009167:Mycobacterium lepraemurium / Q000276:immunology; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*