Restoration of the antibody response to sheep erythrocytes in thymectomized Xenopus implanted with MHC-compatible or MHC-incompatible thymus.
These experiments make use of an amphibian model system for investigating the role of the thymus in T helper cell education. Clawed toads (Xenopus laevis), thymectomized at 7 days, are unable to mount an antibody response to thymus-dependent antigens, such as sheep red blood cells (SRBC). When thymectomized larvae are implanted with larval thymuses (either irradiated or non-irradiated), incompatible at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) or with MHC-compatible or -incompatible 'adult' thymuses, their splenic plaque-forming cell response and serum haemolytic antibody production to SRBC are both restored, to some extent. However, levels of mercaptoethanol-resistant antibody were extremely poor in those animals implanted with MHC-incompatible 'adult' thymus. Larval thymus implants were shown, by ploidy-labelling studies, to become repopulated with host-derived lymphocytes. Whether or not these lymphocytes acquire their MHC restriction specificities in the thymus awaits clarification.
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology; D006462:Hemolytic Plaque Technique; D007814:Larva; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D011003:Ploidies; D012756:Sheep; D013601:T-Lymphocytes; D013934:Thymectomy; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology* / Q000637:transplantation; D014982:Xenopus laevis