Loss of suppressor t cells in the pathogenesis of the autoimmunity of nzb/w mice

✍ Scribed by Randall S. Krakauer; Warren Strober; Thomas A. Waldmann

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1978
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 530 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780210931

✦ Synopsis

Loss of suppressor T cells was demonstrated

in NZB/W mice, an animal model of autoimmunity. As NZB/W mice matured they lost splenic T cells that could be activated by concanavalin A (Con A) to become sup pressor cells and lost the ability to produce the regulator of humoral immune responses, soluble immune response suppressor (SIRS). However, NZB/W spleen cells retained the capacity to respond to suppressor signals from Con A pulsed normal spleen cells. Thrice weekly administration of SIRS containing supernatants of Con A pulsed normal spleen cells to young NZB/W mice lead to a striking reduction in the manifestations of autoimmunity.

Immune responses are similar to other complex biological processes in that they are controlled by a series of negative as well as positive regulatory factors. A variety of suppressor cell systems have been implicated in virtually all of the immunological regulatory mechanisms that are recognized (1-3). For example, suppressor T cells have been shown to play a key role in the development of specific immunological tolerance From the Metabolism Branch, National Cancer Institute,