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Biomedical subjects

R A Phillips

Publications and source records attributed to R A Phillips.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

In vitro differentiation of B lymphocytes from pre-B cells.

Adult bone marrow contains both B lymphocytes and their immediate precursors, pre-B cells. These two cells differ in size and can be separated by velocity sedimentation; B cells are enriched in the subpopulation of cells sedimenting at between 2.0 and 3.5 mm/hr and pre-B cells in the subpopulation between 5.0 and 7.0 mm/hr. Incubation of pre-B cells in vitro for 4 or 5 days leads to their differentiation into functional B lymphocytes. The transition form pre-B to B appears to occur in two steps. The first step gives mitogen responsive B cells with an intermediate sedimentation velocity and the second step produces typical small, slowly sedimenting B cells. Pre-B cells can be quantified by using a limiting dilution assay and occur at a frequency of 1/60 in the subpopulation of rapidly sedimenting bone marrow cells.

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Reduced responsiveness of immature B cells to the B cell mitogen, lipoprotein.

When pre-B cells are isolated from bone marrow and incubated in vitro for several days, they spontaneously differentiate into LPS-reactive B cells. These newly produced B cells do not respond to another B cell mitogen, lipoprotein (Lp). The lack of Lp reactivity of newly produced B cells represents a qualitative difference between these cells and B cells in peripheral tissues that respond equally well to both LPS and Lp. Thus, responsiveness to different mitogens provides unique markers to identify B cells at early stages of development.

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Stimulation of human NK-cell activity by cultured cells. I. Response of normals.

Natural cell-mediated cytotoxicity, observed on co-cultivation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) with malignant melanoma tumor cells (M4), is described. The activity was inhibited when PBL were cultured in autologous serum. Studies using competitive inhibition with cold targets and stimulation of PBL with other tumor cell lines failed to detect specificity.

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Quantitative studies on the precursors of cytotoxic lymphocytes. IV. Specificity and cross-reactivity of cytotoxic clones.

Murine cytotoxic lymphocyte precursor cells (CLP) appear to be specificity restricted, yet 2 to 4% of the total pool appears to be activated in a response against a single foreign H-2 alloantigen. The simplest model that provides enough CLP for all possible reactions is that H-2 antigens have cross-reacting determinants. Experimentally, we observed that activation of RNC-nu/+ (H-2k) LN cells with H-2b spleen cells activated 1200 to 1800 CLP per 10(6) LN cells capable of lysing H-2b target cells. Of these, 3 to 4% could also lyse H-2d target cells. In addition, a small number of clones (approximately 25/10(6) LN cells) were activated which could lyse H-2d but not H-2b target cells. However, the total number of such apparent nonspecifically activated clones is small since greater than 80% of all the CLP activated on culturing with H-2b alloantigens will lyse H-2b targets. The results are discussed in terms of specificity restriction and possible subpopulations of CLP.

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Quantitative studies on the precursors of cytotoxic lymphocytes. III. The lineage of memory cells.

In the course of a mixed lymphocyte culture, memory cells are produced which can give rise to a large secondary cytotoxic lymphocyte response on reexposure to the sensitizing alloantigen. We have studied the lineage of these memory cells using a clonal assay for precursors of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CLP). Our data provide conclusive evidence that individual CLP, upon stimulation with alloantigens, gives rise to clones which contain memory cells of the same specificity as the CLP. Only half of the clones that responded in the primary stimulation could be reactivated upon exposure to the original priming alloantigen.

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The identification in adult bone marrow of pluripotent and restricted stem cells of the myeloid and lymphoid systems.

The precise relationship between the stem cells for the lymphoid system and those for the blood-forming system is unclear. While it is generally assumed that the hemopoietic stem cell, the spleen colony-forming unit (CFU-S), is also the stem cell for the lymphoid system, there is little evidence for this hypothesis. To investigate the stem cells in these two systems, we irradiated bone marrow cells to induce unique chromosome aberrations in the stem cell population and injected them at limiting dilution into stem cell-deficient recipients. Several months (between 3 and 11) were allowed for the injected cells to repopulate the hemopoietic system. At that time, the bone marrow, spleen, and thymus were examined for a high frequency of cells having the same unique chromosome aberration. The presence of such markers shows that the marker was induced in a cell with extensive proliferative capacity, i.e., a stem cell. In addition, the splenic lymphocytes were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to search for unique chromosomes in dividing T and B cells, respectively. Finally, bone marrow cells were injected into secondary irradiated recipients to determine if the marker occurred in CFU-S and to determine whether or not the same tissue distributions of marked cells could be propogated by bone marrow cells in a second recipient. After examination of 28 primary recipients, it was possible to identify three unique patterns of stem cell regeneration. In one set of mice, a unique chromosome marker was observed in CFU-S and in PHA- and LPS-stimulated cultures. These mice provide direct evidence for a pluripotent stem cell in bone marrow. In addition, two restricted stem cells were identified by this analysis. In three recipients, abnormal karyotypes were found only in myeloid cells and not in B and T lymphocytes. These mice presumably received a marked stem cell restricted to differentiate only into myeloid progeny. In three other recipients, chromosome aberrations were found only in PHA-stimulated cells; CFU-S and cells from LPS cultures did not have cells with the unique chromosome. This pattern suggests that bone marrow contains cells committed to differentiation only into T lymphocytes. For each of the three types of stem cells, secondary recipients had the same cellular distribution of marked cells as the primary recipients. This observation provides further evidence that unique markers can be induced in both pluripotent and restricted stem cells.

Age Factors↗

Quantitative studies on the precursors of cytotoxic lymphocytes. I. Characterization of a clonal assay and determination of the size of clones derived from single precursors.

A microculture system for estimating the frequency of cytotoxic lymphocyte precursors (CLP) to alloantigens is described. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CL) were generated by culturing limiting numbers of RNC (H-2k)-nu/+lymph node (LN) cells with irradiated C3D2F1 (H-2k/d) spleen cells in the presence of RNC-nu/nu spleen cells for 7 days in microtiter trays. At the end of the culture period, individual wells were assayed for cytotoxic effector cells directed against 51CrP815 (H-2d) target cells. The effector cells generated under these conditions are sensitive to killing by rabbit anti-mouse brain serum and guinea pig complement. The process of differentiation from precursors to CL is radiation sensitive (Do approximately 180 rads). The frequency of precursors for H-2d was calculated by fitting the proportion of nonresponding cultures to the zero order term of the Poisson distribution, Po = e-vn, where Po = per cent nonresponders, v = precursor frequency, and N = number of LN cells cultured per well. The frequency of precursors in the RNC-nu/+LN population responding to the H-2d haplotype was found to be 1 in 776. Under conditions where no backstimulation is possible, the frequency of precursors responding to the H-2d haplotype is 1 in 885 for B6-nu/+LN and 1 in 2550 for B6-nu/+ spleen, respectively. In combination with a visual assay for individual CL, it was found that the average clone size per precursor after 7 days in culture is about 1040. Our assay could detect clones with as few as 40 CL/well. Since the average clone size in 26 times the detection limit, we conclude that the assay for CLP is highly sensitive and does not represent a minimum estimate.

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Requirement for non T-cells in the generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in vitro. II. Characterization of the active cells in the spleen of nude mice.

Small numbers of LN cells will produce many more cytotoxic lymphocytes on in vitro culture with allogeneic stimulator cells if spleen cells from nu/nu mice are also present throughout the culture period. All cytotoxic cells produced are T cells and arise from precursors in the LN component. The nude spleen component appears to be providing a required non-T cell which has been lost from the LN component through dilution. At least two active subpopulations of cells, differing in sedimentation velocity, adherence properties, radiation sensitivity, and antigen recognition properties can be identified in the nu/nu spleen. The first, the dominant activity in normal nu/nu spleen, is nonadherent, radiation sensitive, and can synergize with either syngeneic or allogeneic LN cells provided both are different from the same alloantigens in the stimulator population. The second, found in nu/nu spleen cells precultured with alloantigen, sediments more rapidly, is adherent, and radiation resistant, and need not be allogeneic to the stimulator cells to synergize with LN cells. The first subpopulation may give rise to the second.

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Quantitative studies on the precursors of cytotoxic lymphocytes. II. Specificity of precursors responsive to alloantigens and to concanavalin A.

A microculture system was used to examine the specificity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CL) derived from single precursors. Our data indicate that clones derived from single precursors of CL (CLP) are specific. Thus, RNC mice (H-2k) simultaneously stimulated by both H-2d and H-2b antigens produce clones which are specific for either H-2b or H-2d but not for both. In lymph node (LN), the frequency of CLP giving rise to clones specific for H-2d and H-2b is 1/480 and 1/860, respectively. Clonal specificity is also maintained when Con A is used to activate the precursors. With a nonspecific assay of CL, it was found that 2.5% of the cells in LN are stimulated by Con A to produce clones of CL. Among the CLP stimulated by Con A, 2.1% of the clones are specific for H-2d alloantigens. An unexpected finding was that 18% of the clones produced by Con A stimulation lysed EL4 tumor cells, which carry H-2b; however, only a small proportion of these clones were specific for the H-2b alloantigen. The antigen on EL4 which accounts for the high response has not been characterized.

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