Physiology of murine B lymphocytes I. Life‐spans of anti‐m̀ and haptenated Ficoll (thymus‐independent antigen)‐reactive B cells

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Abstract
We have evaluated the life-span of B lymphocytes by measuring the functional reactivity of normal B cells upon transfer into xid mice, which do not respond to anti-μ, fluoresceinated-Ficoll (FL-Ficoll) and 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl aminoethylcarbamylmethyl Ficoll (TNP-Ficoll). After 4 days of transfer only 30–40% of anti-μ-reactive cells decayed leaving behind 60–70% of B cells which appeared to decay slowly. Even 10 days after transfer ˜ 40% of anti-γ-reactive B cells can be recovered from the recipients. This result demonstrates the existence of heterogeneity in the life-spans of anti-μ-reactive B lymphocytes and that a major population (60–70%) of B cells persists beyond 4 days. Interestingly, the short-lived B cell subpopulation was not detected when the decay of the antigen-specific B cells was studied. Thus, TNP-Ficoll and FL-Ficoll-reactive B cells were found to be long lived and such B cells did not decline at all, even 5 months after transfer into xid mice.