Lymphocyte activation. I. Response of T and B lymphocytes to phytomitogens.

TLDR

The study compared responses of normal spleen cell cultures to those of B cells isolated from thymectomized, athymic, and anti‑θ serum‑treated mice. B cells were strongly stimulated by pokeweed mitogen but not by phytohaemagglutinin, whereas T cells responded to phytohaemagglutinin.

Abstract

The selectivity of phytomitogens for T (thymus derived/dependent) and B (`bursa-equivalent' dependent/derived) lymphocytes from the mouse spleen has been investigated. Responses of normal spleen cell cultures were compared with those of cultures of selected B cells. The latter were obtained from three sources (1) spleen cells of mice that had been thymectomized as adults, lethally irradiated and reconstituted with syngeneic bone marrow cells pretreated with anti-θ serum (2) spleen cells from congenitally athymic (`nude') mice and (3) spleen cells from normal mice treated with anti-θ serum plus guinea-pig complement prior to culture. Using a variety of different culture conditions it was shown that B cells respond well to pokeweed mitogen, and poorly if at all to phytohaemagglutinin. Responsiveness to the latter mitogen in normal spleen cell cultures appears to be a property of T cells.