Polyclonal Antibody Secretion Induced in Human Mixed Lymphocyte Cultures

Abstract

In mixed leukocyte culture (MLC), using human spleen cells or thoracic duct lymphocytes, antibody secretion was induced and measured as plaque-forming cells (PFC) in a hemolysis-in-gel assay with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-coupled sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) as targets. Peak antibody secretion was seen on day 5. Using protein-A-coupled SRBC as targets and developing antisera, antibody secretion in MLC was of Ig[immunoglobulin]M, IgG and IgA type. There was no correlation between the number of PFC against FITC-SRBC in MLC and DNA synthesis. Supernatants from MLC failed to induce antibody secretion.