The Radiosensitive Nature of Homograft-Rejecting and Agglutinin-Forming Capacities of Isolated Spleen Cells

Abstract

The killing effect of P₁ on P₂ cells was studied in irradiated, immunologically inert (P₁ × P₂)F₁ recipient mice by determining the decrease of antirat agglutinins synthesized by P₂ cells. This technique was used to assess quantitatively the homograft-rejecting capacity of known numbers of isolated spleen cells and to study the radioinactivation of immune responses. The data show that the homograft-rejecting capacity is more radioresistant than the agglutinin-forming capacity. This fact shows that a difference exists at the active cell level between the two capacities, and suggests that either two somatic cell lines or two maturation and/or differentiation stages are responsible.