Surface markers for characterisation of bovine blood lymphocyte populations and changes in these from birth to maturity.
A sheep erythrocyte (E) rosette technique was developed for use with cattle lymphocytes. This involved the use of 17 per cent Ficoll 400 and preservative-free heparin (84 iu/ml) in the saline-erythrocyte mixture. Using this technique, 83 per cent of peripheral blood lymphocytes in cattle aged between six and 10 years were found to form E rosettes. The remaining cells (17 per cent) were B-cells, so that no cells remained unmarked. Lymphocytes from very young calves contained a population of unmarked or null cells, but these rapidly diminished as the animals matured. A peak of total lymphocytes recovered from blood, as well as E rosette-forming cells, occurred in calves aged four to six months. The non-E rosette-forming cells were mostly B-cells and it was suggested that this was associated with calf weaning. The total number of lymphocytes recovered, as well as E rosette-forming cells, gradually fell with the age of the cattle sampled. Null cells were virtually absent from the blood of cattle six years and older. Bovine T-cells could be further subdivided into Fc mu, Fc gamma and C' receptor-bearing subpopulations on the basis of overlap with R rosette-forming cells. Some further separation of these cells from B-cells was achieved using density gradient centrifugation on Percoll. Separation of E rosette-forming cells with Fc receptors from E rosette-forming cells without Fc receptors was achieved by nylon wool columns, to which the Fc receptor bearing cells were adherent. It was concluded that bovine blood lymphocytes had blood T-lymphocyte populations with markers which may correspond to the 'helper' (Fc mu ) and 'suppressor' (Fc gamma ) populations described for the human.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D002417:Cattle / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D008215:Lymphocytes, Null / Q000166:cytology; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000032:analysis; D011951:Receptors, Complement / Q000032:analysis; D011961:Receptors, Fc / Q000032:analysis; D012397:Rosette Formation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000166:cytology
D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell; D011951:Receptors, Complement; D011961:Receptors, Fc