Analysis of the cellular interactions involved in the regulation of induced erythrocyte autoantibodies

Protective immunity to malaria and anti-erythrocyte autoimmunity

The intraerythrocytic development of malaria parasites results in considerable modification and destruction of erythrocytes. This may lead to the breaking of tolerance such that immune recognition of 'self' or 'modified self' erythrocyte antigens by B or T lymphocytes occurs. Such recognition may be a vital factor in the induction of protective immunity even though it may also cause immunopathology. Serological and immunocytochemical assays have been used to demonstrate, in the serum of Plasmodium berghei-infected or immune rats, antibodies to isoantigenic determinants on infected erythrocytes. Absorption studies indicated that antigens specifically associated with parasitized erythrocytes and erythrocyte isoantigens were closely associated at the surface membrane. Extensive erythrocyte modification and destruction, artificially generated by phenylhydrazine treatment, significantly enhanced immunity against rodent malaria. In contrast, the generation of an incomplete anti-erythrocyte autoantibody response in mice by the injection of cross-reacting rat erythrocytes failed to augment protective responses to P. chabaudi. The reinjection of rat erythrocytes into mice previously injected with rat erythrocytes suppresses further autoantibody synthesis and the mice revert to the normal (Coombs-negative) state. Spleen cells from rat erythrocyte-treated mice transfer this suppression when injected into syngeneic recipients. Coombs-negative mice reinjected with rat erythrocytes failed to show enhanced protective responses to P. chabaudi. Spleen cells from such Coombs-negative mice, injected into sublethally irradiated recipients, increased the protective effects of concurrently transferred spleen cells from malaria-immune donors when the recipients were challenged with P. chabaudi.

The influence of monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL) on erythrocyte autoantibody formation

The onset and the amount of erythrocyte autoantibodies induced by the injection of C57BL/6N mice with rat red blood cells (RRBC) were hastened and increased, respectively, after the administration of monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL); this was not the case for similarly treated BALB/cAnN mice, which make a lower autoantibody response after immunization with RRBC. The transfer of spleen cells from donor C57BL/6N mice immunized with RRBC suppressed autoantibody formation in recipient mice subsequently immunized with RRBC; however, treatment with MPL prevented neither the induction nor the expression of such suppression. This suggests that the increased autoantibody response in RRBC-immunized C57BL/6N mice treated with MPL is not due to the inactivation of suppressor cell activity which, in other studies, was found to be extremely sensitive to MPL.

The implications of the failure to generate autoantibody-producing hybridomas from rat erythrocyte-immunized mice

Injection of mice with rat erythrocytes (RRBC) has long been thought to provide an experimental model in which suppressor T cells (Ts) control autoimmunity. The basis of this is that whilst mice immunized with RRBC produce an antibody response, of which a proportion cross-reacts with autologous red cells, the RRBC-immunized recipients of RRBC-primed spleen cells make no, or little, autoantibody, and secondly because the transfer of this autoantibody-specific suppression can be abrogated by T-cell depletion of transferred spleen cells. Here an alternative explanation of these phenomena is described.

Expression and regulation of erythrocyte auto-antibodies in mice following immunization with rat erythrocytes

Mice immunized with intact rat red blood cells (RBC) developed serum auto-antibodies (some of which were mouse specific) to the RBC membrane components spectrin and antigens of 100 and 81 kDa as shown by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as well as RBC surface-bound autoantibodies detected by the Coombs' test. In order to discover whether these autoantibodies were induced and controlled in similar or different ways, mice were challenged with a variety of rat and mouse RBC preparations. In addition, the ability of recipients given spleen cells from the above donors to generate autoantibody responses to intact rat RBC was measured. It was found that all the autoantibodies were induced in mice challenged with rat RBC ghosts but none following immunization with butanol-extracted rat RBC ghosts or intact mouse RBC. By contrast, mice injected with mouse RBC ghosts made autoantibodies to spectrin and to the 100-kDa band. Spleen cells from mice primed with intact rat RBC, rat RBC ghosts or butanol-extracted rat RBC ghosts curtailed Coombs' autoantibody production of recipient mice challenged with intact rat RBC. Serum from recipients of spleen cells primed with intact rat RBC or the butanol extract generally failed to react with rat or mouse spectrin or with the 81-kDa band, although antibody was detected to the rat 100-kDa band. Recipients of rat RBC ghost-primed spleen cells produced antibody to rat and mouse spectrin and to rat 100-kDa band but not to mouse 100-kDa or rat or mouse 81-kDa bands. Occasionally, suppression of antibody to the rat-specific 38-kDa band was observed in recipients of intact rat RBC-primed spleen cells. It is therefore suggested that regulation of cross-reactive and mouse-specific autoantibodies as well as rat-specific antibodies occurs in an independent, determinant-specific manner.

Adoptive suppression of erythrocyte autoantibodies in Lyt-2+ depleted recipients

Cells suppressing red blood cell (RBC) autoantibody responses were found to exert their effect in Lyt-2+ depleted recipients. Mice injected with monoclonal antibodies to Lyt-2 became deficient in Lyt-2+ cells as judged by indirect immunofluorescence. These mice and normal recipients were given either rat RBC primed spleen cells (suppressor cells) or normal spleen cells and challenged with rat RBC. The autoantibody response of both Lyt-2+ depleted and normal recipients was suppressed as compared with that of mice given normal spleen cells. It is suggested that an Lyt-1+ cell may be involved in the expression of suppression.

Neutrophil-mediated nonoxidative tumor lysis stimulated by high concentrations of phorbol myristate acetate

The mechanism of neutrophil-mediated lysis of tumor targets was investigated. Tumor lysis was directly related to the concentration of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) used to stimulate PMNs. Lysis increased as the PMA concentration increased between 10(-7) and 10(-4) M. In contrast, the production of H2O2 plateaued between concentrations of 10(-5) and 10(-4) M. The K562 erythroleukemia cell, the target used in this study, was found to be relatively resistant to preformed H2O2, with an LD50 of 8.3 X 10(-3) M. Myeloperoxidase was not capable of enhancing K562 lysis. Although resistant to preformed H2O2, K562 lysis mediated by PMNs stimulated with 10(-7) M PMA was oxidative in nature. It was sensitive to inhibition by catalase and was not significant when PMNs from patients with chronic granulomatous disease were used. In contrast, PMN lysis stimulated by 10(-4) M PMA was nonoxidative in nature. The inhibitors catalase and superoxide dismutase had no effect on lysis, lysis was significant when the assay was performed in an anaerobic atmosphere, and PMNs from patients with chronic granulomatous disease were comparable to control PMNs in tumor lysis. A single-cell conjugate and cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that PMA was both able to increase the ability of PMNs to bind to tumor targets and to enhance their lysis of bound targets. These data indicate that PMNs are capable of achieving tumor lysis by nonoxidative pathways under certain conditions. The high-dose PMA model may be valuable as a tool for investigating these alternative mechanisms of tumor lysis.

Identification of an erythrocyte autoantigen using monoclonal autoantibodies induced by immunization of mice with rat erythrocyte

An erythrocyte autoantigen has been identified by means of monoclonal autoantibodies raised by immunizing mice with rat red blood cells (RBC). The autoantibodies reacted with intact rat and mouse RBC as judged by a cellular radioimmunoassay, and with a 52K band on western blots of rat and mouse RBC. They did not react with intact sheep RBC or blotted sheep erythrocyte membranes. Although anti-rat erythrocyte antibodies did react with bands in the molecular weight region of 50-55 K (on blots of rat erythrocyte membranes), these bands were susceptible to neuraminidase digestion, thus distinguishing them from the 52 K band recognized by monoclonal autoantibodies. The implications of the above results for the known autoantibody specificity of suppression is discussed, and it is suggested that they favour the existence of autoantigen-specific suppressor cells.

Adoptive transfer of suppression of the autoimmune response to rat male accessory glands: characterization of the suppressor cells

We have examined the mechanism of suppression of autoimmunity to rat male accessory glands (RAG) by T suppressor cells. This suppression was accomplished by transfer to syngeneic rats of spleen mononuclear (SpM) cells from rats rendered unresponsive by pretreatment with low doses of a purified fraction of RAG (containing the autoantigen). The experiments demonstrated that the suppressor cells that act on the inducer phase of the suppression are cyclophosphamide (Cy) sensitive and that they can be positively selected on antigen-coated plates. On the other hand, the inducer phase T suppressor cells present on spleens coming from antigen-pretreated rats did not suppress the autoimmune response in normal recipients that had been irradiated (850 rad 137Cs) just prior to receiving the cells or injected with Cy 14 days after transfer. The results indicate that the regulation of immune response to the autoantigen of RAG is complex and that it involves the interaction of many cell types.

Characterization of suppressor-inducer cells which control the production of rat erythrocyte-induced anti-erythrocyte autoantibodies

Mice immunized with rat erythrocytes produce autoantibodies to their own red blood cells, distinct anti-rat agglutinins and autoantigen-specific suppressor cells. Suppressor cells were detected by adoptive transfer of rat erythrocyte-immunized spleen cells to naive recipients. Such recipients failed to make erythrocyte autoantibodies after immunization with rat erythrocytes although their anti-rat erythrocyte response was unimpaired. Depletion and enrichment studies were performed to identify the cell type(s) which transfer suppression. B cell depletion of rat erythrocyte-immunized spleen cells by passage over Ig/anti-Ig-coated bead columns abrogated the transfer of suppression. However, suppression was still transferred after rat erythrocyte immunized spleen cells were passed over beads coated with a complex of 4-azido-2-nitrophenyl (NAP)-mouse IgG-rabbit IgG anti-NAP suggesting that T cells bearing Fc gamma receptors are not responsible for suppression. Positively selected B cells from rat erythrocyte-immunized spleen cells caused some suppression of erythrocyte autoantibodies but only after high numbers of cells were transferred. Neither positively selected Lyt-1+2- nor Lyt-1-2+ T cell subpopulations transferred suppression. By contrast, rat erythrocyte-immunized spleen cells which contained a mixture of B memory and T cells were suppressive and retained their suppressor activity after removal of Lyt-1-2+ but not Lyt-1+2- cells. It is proposed that these Lyt-1+2-T cells belong to a distinct population of suppressor-inducer cells which together with memory B cells stimulate the generation of effector T suppressor cells in naive recipients.

Carrier-specific induction of suppressor cells controlling anti-erythrocyte autoantibody production in mice

Mice immunized with rat erythrocytes develop anti-erythrocyte autoantibodies, distinct anti-rat erythrocyte agglutinins, and suppressor-inducer cells, which regulate the production of autoantibody but not anti-rat erythrocyte agglutinins upon transfer to naive recipients. In this report, we have tried to determine the specificity of the suppressor-inducer cells. CBA/N mice (which express an X-linked genetic B-lymphocyte defect) immunized with rat erythrocytes developed no autoantibodies but normal levels of anti-rat erythrocyte antibodies and suppressor-inducer cells, thereby suggesting that neither idiotypes on autoreactive B cells nor idiotypes on autoantibody itself, stimulate suppressor-inducer cells. In contrast, rat erythrocyte-primed spleen cells suppressed both a primary 2,4,6 trinitrophenyl (TNP) response and anti-erythrocyte autoantibody production (but not anti-rat erythrocyte antibodies) upon transfer to naive recipients and challenge with TNP-rat erythrocytes. It is considered that the suppressor-inducer cells are carrier-specific and that they are not stimulated by idiotypes on either autoantibody or autoreactive B cells.

Regulation of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. Part 5. Role of the recipient in suppressor cell induction

Suppressor cells that regulate experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) are present in spleens of Lewis rats that have recovered from the disease, as demonstrated by adoptive transfer of suppression to normal recipients. However, lethally irradiated recipients (850 rad) of spleen cells from recovered donors are not protected against EAE. Indeed, onset of EAE is accelerated in these irradiated recipients. These findings suggest that the host participates in the suppression of EAE.