Autoantibody-specific suppressor cells are elicited by membrane components of rat RBC independently of circulating autoantibodies but TNP-specific suppressors are not elicited by TNP-rat RBC.
Erythrocyte autoantibodies and autoantibody-specific suppressor cells are elicited in mice injected with rat erythrocytes. Here it is shown, first, that modified rat erythrocytes elicit suppressor cells independently of autoantibody production. Haemoglobin-free membranes of rat erythrocytes, but not soluble lysates of rat erythrocytes, elicited autoantibodies and suppressor cells. Solubilization of these rat erythrocyte membranes with solutions of Triton-X-114 produced membrane fractions which induced autoantibody-specific suppression in the absence of detectable autoantibody production. These results are compatible with the view that the activation of suppressor cells in this model involves recognition of structures on the rat erythrocytes. Secondly, trinitrophenyl (TNP) was attached to rat erythrocytes in various doses in attempts to make the immunogenicity of TNP similar to that of the cross-reactive determinants on rat and mouse erythrocytes, to determine whether TNP-specific suppressor cells were produced. The results show that at various doses of TNP, including those at which antibody production to TNP could not be detected, rat erythrocytes coated with TNP induced autoantibody-specific suppressor cells but not suppressor cells with specificity for antibodies to TNP.
D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D007114:Immunization; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D009578:Nitrobenzenes / Q000276:immunology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D014301:Trinitrobenzenes / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies; D009578:Nitrobenzenes; D014301:Trinitrobenzenes