A time study of the requirement for carrier‐specific helper cells in the response of mice to dinitrophenylated keyhole limpet hemocyanin

摘要

AbstractThe anti‐hapten response of spleen cells from mice primed with hapten‐carrier (dinitrophenylated keyhole limpet hemocyanin) was decreased by depletion of T cells during the first four days after secondary antigenic stimulation, but was unaffected when the T cells were depleted on day 5. The response of cultures that were depleted of T cells prior to secondary antigenic stimulation was restored by addition of carrier‐primed cells during the first two days of culture, partially restored on day 3, but not at later times. Thus, T cells were required only at about day 4 of a secondary response to a T‐dependent antigen that peaked on day 8. Autoradiography experiments showed that the frequency of antigen‐binding cells increased with time regardless of the presence of T cells in the cultures. We conclude that helper T cells are not required for B cell proliferation, but are required for the differentiation of B cells to antibody‐secr