title: Age effects on colony-forming human peripheral blood T and B cells.
abstract: An assay was developed for studying the effect of age on human colony-forming T and B cells. Phytohemagglutinin was used to induce the formation of T cell colonies and anti-human Fab antibodies were used to induce the formation of B cell colonies. The assay requires a short (less than 8 h) incubation in liquid media in the presence of a mitogen prior to plating in semisoft agar. Neither autologous serum, red cells, nor conditioned media are required to support colony formation. The kinetic and morphologic characteristics of T and B cell colonies were different. Formation of T cell macro- but not microcolonies was significantly impaired during aging. Formation of B cell colonies was decreased with aging, but the decrease was not significant.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D006801:Humans; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins