The Immunologic Competence of Mouse Thymus Cells Measured by the Graft vs. Host Spleen Assay

Abstract

The thymus gland has been shown to be directly involved with the development of peripheral lymphatic system. The mechanisms of this relationship are not understood; however, many investigators believe that thymic cells are directly “seeded” to peripheral lymphatic tissues. The present investigations test the immunologic competence of the murine thymus cell itself. Thymus cell suspensions from newborn and adult mice were assayed for immunocompetence by the spleen assay method and compared with the competence of spleen cells from mice of similar ages. Thymus cells from both new born and adult animals were found to be competent, whereas spleen cells from newborn animals showed no immunologic reactivity. A-strain adult spleen cells were found to be approximately ten times as reactive as A-strain thymus cells.