The stable and permanent expansion of functional T lymphocytes in athymic nude rats after a single injection of mature T cells.
Athymic nude rats (PVG.rnu/rnu) were injected at 6 to 10 wk of age with 1 to 200 million thoracic duct lymphocytes (TDL) containing 40 to 60% mature T cells. Thereafter TDL-injected nude recipients were monitored for evidence of T cell function for up to 2 yr. W3/25+ T helper (Th) cells in lymph nodes (LN) increased from 7% at 2 wk to 30% at 8 wk after TDL transfer. The percent of W3/25+ cells remained elevated for the life of the recipient (up to 2 yr), approximating normal levels. The total size of the recirculating pool expanded in TDL-injected nude rats to reach 2/3 the level of euthymic controls by 16 wk, an increase of 10-fold to 15-fold in W3/25+ cells. The expansion of the W3/25+ population was independent of initial TDL dose. With time spleen and LN acquired a normal histological appearance including the development of germinal centres and a marked increase in cellularity in T cell traffic areas. TDL-injected nude rats rejected skin allografts with near normal kinetics. In addition graft vs host (GVH) responsiveness, assessed by the popliteal LN assay, progressively increased reaching a level 9 mo to 1 yr after replacement that resembled the GVH activity in euthymic controls.
Bell
E B
EB
Sparshott
S M
SM
Drayson
M T
MT
Ford
W L
WL
D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D006085:Graft Survival; D006087:Graft vs Host Reaction; D008017:Life Expectancy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains / Q000276:immunology; D011922:Rats, Mutant Strains / Q000276:immunology*; D011923:Rats, Nude / Q000276:immunology*; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000637:transplantation*