STUDIES OF HYPERTHYMIC MICE .2. INFLUENCE OF THYMUS GRAFTS ON CELL FLOW THROUGH PERIPHERAL T-CELL POOL

Abstract

In normal CBA/H mice implanted under the kidney capsule with 8 CBA/H.T6T6 neonatal thymus lobes, the percentage of marked thymus-graft derived T [thymus-derived] cells in the periphery, after building up to a peak, showed a biphasic exponential decline. The initial decline was very rapid and appeared to be due to loss of the thymus-graft derived cells from the system. The later decline was slower and was the same as the that of an introduced cohort of lymph-node lymphocytes. The 2nd rate of decline was considerably more rapid than that of a lymph-node cohort in non-thymus-grafted mice. Apparently, in multiply thumus-grafted mice the flow of cells through the T-cell pool is more rapid than in normal mice and in this sense the thymus can be thought to drive the lymphoid system.