Naturally occurring spleen-associated suppressor activity of the newborn mouse. Requirement for two genetic restrictions in suppression of lethal graft-versus-host disease by newborn spleen cells.
Spleens from newborn mice less than 6-7 days of age are known to contain naturally occurring suppressor cells, which can suppress the immune reactivity of third-party adult cells. In the present study newborn spleen cell populations are shown to possess the potential to inhibit lethal graft-versus-host (GVH) disease in sublethally gamma-irradiated hosts injected with allogeneic adult cells. However, this capacity to suppress GVH disease is controlled by at least two genetic restrictions: (1) the newborn spleen cells and the adult donor cells must be histocompatible at an H-2-linked region apparently telomeric of H-2DL, and (2) the newborn spleen cells must express a strongly stimulating non-H-2 (perhaps M1s) alloantigenic phenotype. Host animals that survive GVH remain chimeric for at least 3-4 weeks but return to the host phenotype by 8-10 weeks. Thus, it appears that in sublethally irradiated hosts the newborn cells suppress donor cell reactivity long enough for the host system to recover from the effects of irradiation.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*