In vivo cyclic change in B-lymphocyte susceptibility to T-cell control.
The humoral response to hapten-protein conjugates is an invaluable model for dissecting the cellular elements of lymphocyte cooperation, and the Mitchison secondary adoptive transfer system provides convincing evidence of cooperation between hapten-specific B cells and carrier-specific T cells in the production of anti-hapten antibody. Recently, attention has focused on the role of suppressor T cells in the regulation of antibody production. Several workers have shown that carrier-priming may, in some instances, suppress a subsequent hapten antibody response, both in vivo and in vitro. This effect is attributed to a suppressor T-cell population, generated during the initial phase of the immune response. Gershon and co-workers have postulated that such suppressor T cells function in a feedback regulatory loop to limit the duration of an immune response. We have examined the suppressive effect of carrier immunization in a secondary anti-hapten response in vivo and demonstrate a cyclic change in susceptibility of memory B cells to T-help and suppression. Such variation presents a severe restriction to any model of feedback control by suppressor T cells.
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D005246:Feedback; D006241:Haptens; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008211:Lymphocyte Cooperation; D051379:Mice; D010507:Periodicity; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D006241:Haptens