The Effect of Surgical Bursectomy and Irradiation on Rosette-Forming Cells in the Chicken

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Heterologous erythrocytes are a useful antigen in studies of antigen-binding cells since their binding to lymphoid cells can be detected easily as rosettes of red cells around a central lymphocyte (1, 2). Such binding of antigen is believed to be an early stage in the development of both humoral and cellular immune responses. Because the humoral response to heterologous erythrocytes requires a synergism between thymus dependent (T)3 and bone marrow dependent (B) cells in the mouse (3, 4) and between T and bursal-derived cells in the chicken (5), it is important to assess the contribution of each to the population of rosette-forming cells (RFC). In an effort to explore the origin of RFC in the chicken, we have examined the effect of bursectomy and irradiation on the number of these cells, under conditions which, in normal animals, induce considerable RFC. In the present report, we demonstrate that animals deprived of bursal influence from the embryonic period lack RFC.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: