The Effect of Spleen Cells From F1 Hybrid Mice Undergoing A Graft-Versus Most Reaction Upon the Humoral Immune Response of Parental Mice

Mice undergoing a graft-versus-host reaction (GVHR) exhibit a surppressed immune response. Cells responsible for this suppression have been found to be localized in the spleen. Thus, in this research, a study was made to evaluate the effect of spleen cells from F­1 mice undergoing a GVHR upon the humoral immune response to sheep erythrocytea (SRBC) in parental mice. An attempt was made to create an experimental model involving the transfer of suppressor cells in vivo. Parental BALB/c spleen cells were injected into (C57BL X BALB/c)F1 hybrids to induce a GVH disease. Ten or twenty days later, spleen cells from the F1 hybrids were transferred to adult BALB/c mice. The adult BALB/c mice were subsequently inoculated with SRBC and their antibody response to the SRBC were followed. The resulting data indicate that BALB/c mice injected with spleen cells from F1 hybrids undergoing a CVHR for 10 days and then challenged with SRBC exhibited a significantly lower than normal antibody response to the antigen than did the controls. However, the transfer of suppression was not successful in BALB/c mice that received spleen cells from F1 mice that had a 20 day long CVHR