Ultrastructural characteristics of Fc epsilon R-positive basophils in the spleen and bone marrow of mice immunized with goat anti-mouse IgD antibody.
BACKGROUND
Previous work showed that injection of mice with goat anti-mouse IgD antibodies results in increased numbers of Fc epsilon R-positive, non-B, non-T cells in the spleen and Fc epsilon R-positive cells in the bone marrow, and that some of these cells had ultrastructural features of basophils. Fc epsilon R-positive, non-B, non-T cells express virtually all of the capacity of mouse splenic "non-B, non-T cells" to produce interleukin-4 in response to stimulation by cross-linking of Fc epsilon R or Fc gamma R, or by the calcium ionophore, ionomycin.


METHODS
The present study is a detailed ultrastructural analysis of Fc epsilon R-positive bone marrow cells or Fc epsilon R-positive splenic non-B, non-T cells sorted from mice injected with goat anti-mouse IgD antibody and of Fc epsilon R-positive bone marrow cells or spleen cells pooled from normal mice not injected with goat anti-IgD.


RESULTS
Basophils represented the majority (90%) of the granulated cells present in the Fc epsilon R-positive splenic non-B, non-T cells or Fc epsilon R-positive bone marrow cells of goat anti-IgD-injected mice. In contrast, the cytoplasmic granule-containing Fc epsilon R-negative cells sorted from spleen or bone marrow of goat anti-IgD-injected animals contained predominantly a mixture of neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes and their precursors. Both the Fc epsilon R-positive and -negative preparations contained rare (< 5%) cells with ultrastructural features of very immature mast cells. Basophils were also identified in Fc epsilon R-positive cells sorted from total bone marrow cells or spleen cells of normal mice not injected with goat anti-IgD.


CONCLUSIONS
Taken together with data concerning the numbers of Fc epsilon R-positive, non-B, non-T cells in the spleen, and Fc epsilon R-positive B220-negative cells in the bone marrow, these ultrastructural findings indicate that injection of mice with goat anti-IgD results in increased numbers of basophils, particularly in the spleen, that exhibit an 8-fold increase in basophils as a result of injection of goat anti-IgD.
Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
A M
AM
Dvorak
R A
RA
Seder
W E
WE
Paul
S
S
Kissell-Rainville
M
M
Plaut
S J
SJ
Galli
D000818:Animals; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001491:Basophils / Q000276:immunology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002469:Cell Separation; D005260:Female; D007072:Immunoglobulin D / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D017455:Receptors, IgE; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology
D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D007072:Immunoglobulin D; D017455:Receptors, IgE