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Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol 158, 703-717, Copyright © 1983 by Rockefeller University Press
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CE Taylor, PW Stashak, G Caldes, B Prescott, TE Chused, A Brooks and PJ Baker
The transfer of B lymphocytes from mice immunized with type III pneumococcal polysaccharide (SSS-III) results in antigen-specific suppression of the antibody response of recipients immunized with SSS- III. Such suppression shares many features associated with low-dose paralysis, a phenomenon mediated by suppressor T cells; it reaches maximal levels 3 d after the transfer of viable or irradiated immune B cells and can be eliminated by the depletion of SSS-III-binding cells from spleen cell suspensions before transfer. In a two-step cell transfer experiment, purified T lymphocytes, isolated from recipients previously given immune B cells, caused suppression upon transfer to other mice immunized with SSS-III. Also, B-cell-induced suppression could be abrogated in a competitive manner by the infusion of amplifier T lymphocytes, as was previously demonstrated in the case of low-dose paralysis. These findings suggest that B cell surface components, presumably the idiotypic determinants of cell-associated antibody specific for SSS-III, are instrumental in activating suppressor T cells involved in regulating the magnitude of the antibody response to SSS- III.
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