Effect of colchicine on the antibody response. II. Demonstration of the inactivation of suppressor cell activities by colchicine.

Abstract

The simultaneous administration of colchicine (CC) with a T[thymus derived]-independent antigen, e.g., trinitrophenyl-keyhole limpet hemocyanin-Sepharose, to intact animals effectively enhanced their hapten-specific plaque-forming cell (PFC) response. In congenitally athymic nude mice in which T-cell regulation was absent, CC was ineffective in producing enhancement. Thse observations suggest that the target cell acted upon by CC is most likely thymus-derived. The injection of CC with the co-polymer of L-glutamic acid50-L-tyrosine50 (GT) abolished GT-specific suppression of the PFC response to GT-methylated bovine serum albumin. Spleen cells from CC-treated and GT-primed hosts could no longer transfer suppressive activity to normal recipients. These results provide evidence that CC is capable of inactivating or eliminating suppressor cells or their precursors. CC-induced enhancement of the antibody response may be explained, at least in part, by its anti-mitotic, and hence lethal effect on dividing suppressor T cells.