Thymocytes, macrophages, and erythrocytes

Nonimmune lymphocyte-macrophage interaction. I. Quantification by an automated colorimetric assay

Previous studies have demonstrated a spontaneous, nonimmune interaction between lymphocytes and macrophages. This paper describes an automated colorimetric assay based on the dye, rose bengal, to quantify this interaction. The procedure entails allowing lymphocytes to adhere to preformed macrophage monolayers in the wells of microplates and then staining bound lymphocytes with rose bengal. Dye uptake and the consequent number of lymphocytes bound were quantified using an automated spectrophotometer developed for reading microplates. This procedure was used to confirm and extend the basic parameters of the system. The interaction was found to be temperature dependent but the kinetics and percentage of cells binding varied with the source of lymphocytes. However, all lymphocyte populations tested, namely, mature and immature thymocytes, T and B lymphocytes, and a range of thymoma cell lines, bound to macrophages. Furthermore, all macrophage populations examined had the ability to bind lymphocytes. The interaction also showed no strain specificity and generally lacked species specificity. It is proposed that the interaction is a highly dynamic process that enables lymphocytes to scan the surface of macrophages for self and/or foreign antigens.

A role for Ia antigens in thymocyte binding by macrophages

To investigate the membrane structures involved in cellular interactions between thymocytes and macrophages, the relative ability of different murine macrophage populations to spontaneously bind thymocytes was compared. Macrophages derived from the spleen or thymus bound three to four times the number of thymocytes than macrophages from peripheral blood, peritoneum, or bone marrow. This reflects differences both in the number of macrophages binding thymocytes and in the number of thymocytes bound per macrophage. The extent of binding seems to positively correlate with the number of Ia-positive macrophages contained in these populations, as based on previously published values. This was confirmed by showing that elimination of splenic Ia-positive macrophages with anti-Ia and complement treatment dramatically reduced thymocyte binding. In addition, mouse peritoneal washout macrophages incubated for several days with supernatant fluid from concanavalin A-stimulated spleen cells, which induce Ia-antigen expression, exhibited a marked increase in the number of macrophages that bound thymocytes and the number of thymocytes bound per macrophage. To determine if Ia antigens were directly involved in binding, spleen, thymus, or Ia-induced peritoneal macrophages were treated with a monoclonal anti-Ia antibody prior to the addition of thymocytes. Treatment with anti-Ia reduced binding by around 50%, whereas treatment with anti-H-2D antibody had no effect. Monoclonal anti-I-A and anti-I-E antibody treatments of macrophages both inhibited thymocyte binding to similar extents, and treatment of macrophages with both reagents together reduced thymocyte binding by 80%. These results indicate that thymocyte binding is in part dependent on macrophage Ia expression.

Recognition of heterologous cells by macrophages. I. Species recognition by mouse and guinea pig macrophages in the phagocytosis of heterologous thymocytes

The ability of macrophages to recognize homologous and various heterologous cells was studied in mice, rats, and guinea pigs, in terms of the in vitro phagocytosis of non-opsonized viable thymocytes by macrophages. Mouse, rat, and guinea pig macrophages were found to phagocytize actively thymocytes from certain heterologous animals, including chickens. For instance, mouse macrophages displayed conspicuous phagocytic activities against chicken and duck thymocytes, moderate activities against guinea pig and frog thymocytes and weak activities against rat and mouse thymocytes. On the other hand, guinea pig macrophages revealed a different behaviour: they ingested only chicken thymocytes. These observations strongly suggested that mammalian macrophages possess some ability to discriminate homologous from certain heterologous thymocytes. The results, however, did not necessarily support the idea that the degree of phagocytosis is simply related to the phylogenetic distance between the animal species from which thymocytes and macrophages originated, because of the apparent exception in the mode of phagocytosis by guinea pig macrophages. Evidence demonstrating that antibodies are not involved in this phenomenon will be presented in the accompanying paper.

Ultrastructural findings in the mouse exocrine pancreas during graft-versus host reaction

12- to 36-hours-old newborn CBA mice were intraperitoneally injected each with 10 X 10(6) allogeneic spleen cells of adult C57Bl mice. Control mice received syngeneic spleen cells of adult CBA mice either in the same way or remained untreated. The animals were killed 1, 3, 7, 14 or 21 days after the spleen cell injection. The pancreas was studied histologically and electron microscopically by common methods. Together with an interstitial lymphohistiocytic infiltration of the pancreas different acinar cell alterations were observed in the mice treated with allogeneic spleen cells: 1. Acute lethal pancreatic cell damages on the day after the intraperitoneal injection of allogeneic spleen cells. 2. Membrane-lined inclusion vacuoles between the 7th and 21st experimental day. 3. Atrophy of pancreatic acinar cells in the terminal stage of a severe graft-versus-host disease. The pathogenesis of the observed pancreatic changes seems to be due to nonimmunological and immunological processes. The membrane-lined inclusion vacuoles of the acinar cells could be the consequence of a cell-mediated immune process in the graft-versus-host reaction.

Spontaneous interaction in vitro between lymphocytes and syngeneic peritoneal macrophages of mice

Ficoll-purified lymphocytes (peritoneal, splenic, or thymic) and macrophages (peritoneal) from Toxoplasma-immune and normal female NMRI mice were used. Suspensions of washed cells were made in medium 199 containing 20% heat-inactivated normal calf serum. Sixty minutes after the adherence of 10(5) macrophages to cover slips in Leighton tubes, lymphocytes were added in various concentrations. The mixed cellular population was then incubated at 37 C. Eighteen hours later, most of the lymphocytes were firmly attached to macrophages to form rosettes. This cellular interaction, which was temperature, cell ratio, and time dependent, occurred in the absence of any particular antigenic stimulation. Morever, the reaction was cytotoxic only for adhered lymphocytes as judged by staining with 0.2% trypan blue. Splenic and thymic lymphocytes were bound in significantly greater number than peritoneal lymphocytes. Incubation of macrophages for more than 48 h at 37 C before the addition of fresh lymphocytes markedly reduced rosette formation. Treatment of macrophages and lymphocytes with mouse anti-immunoglobulin did not affect the reaction. The labeling of lymphocytes with fluorescent anti-mouse sera and the use of nude NMRI mice showed that both B and T cells can form spontaneous rosettes with syngeneic peritoneal macrophages.

Is the macrophage the stimulating cell?

Using CAF1 spleen cells to stimulate parental strain BALB/c spleen cells in a mixed lymphocyte culture, column separation of responding cells increased their response whereas the same treatment of stimulating cells reduced their activity approximately 95 per cent. Peritoneal macrophages from CAF1 mice were found to stimulate BALB/c spleen cells poorly if present in comparable numbers or if they were cultured for 24 hours before adding responding cells. However, if the F1 macrophages were in contact with the BALB/c cells for only 4 hours, their stimulating effect was increased strikingly. Under these conditions BALB/c macrophages had no effect. It is concluded that the macrophage is probably the most effective stimulating cell and may be the only cell with this capability.