Prevention of Immunological Tolerance to Shigella Antigens in New-born Mice by Immune Spleen Cell Extracts

Abstract

IMMUNOLOGICAL capability may be restored in tolerant adult animals by means of spleen or lymph node cell transplants from normal or immune donors^1,2. In somewhat similar situations, establishment of tolerance to Shigella parodysenteriae antigens³ and to bovine serum albumin⁴ has been prevented in neonatal mice by simultaneous administration of normal spleen or thymus cell suspensions obtained from either neonatal or adult donor mice. In the Shigella system, it was found that viable lymphoid cells were apparently necessary for interference with establishment of tolerance. Heat-killed normal lymphoid cells, and non-lymphoid tissue suspensions from liver, lung, kidney and brain, were not effective³. During the course of these investigations, it was found that transfer of spleen cell suspensions from adult donor mice previously immunized to Shigella antigens was more effective in blocking tolerance than transfer of cells from either neonatal or normal adults³.