The xenogeneic effect – Evidence for coparticipation of human monocytes and T lymphocytes in the restoration of nude mouse in vitro response to sheep red blood cells

Abstract

The restorative ability of human peripheral blood lymphocyte fractions on nude mouse spleen cell in vitro antibody response to SRBC was studied. Strongly adherent cells (monocytes) enhanced nude cell response, but not to the same extent as the optimal number (10⁶) of unfractionated human peripheral blood lymphocytes. T‐depleted cells lost their ability to optimally restore the response, while T‐enriched cells showed a definite restorative ability. The recombination of adherent cells with T‐enriched cells produced an effect comparable to that of unfractionated cells, both in terms of magnitude and dose‐response curve. These data suggest that both monocytes and T cells are necessary for an optimal xenogeneic effect in Mishell‐Dutton cultures.