• 1 June 1968
    • journal article
    • Vol. 14  (6) , 837-50
Abstract
Peritoneal cells from non-immunized mice, when incubated in vitro with sheep red cells and complement in a film of carboxymethyl-cellulose gum, form plaques of haemolysis after a latent phase of 15–20 hours. Plaques are also produced by the free cells of the pleural cavity but not by lymph node, spleen, thymus and bone marrow cells. Plaques are not produced at room temperature, nor when the complement has been inactivated or the peritoneal cells have been heat-killed. The phenomenon is age-dependent: the peritoneal cells reach the highest activity when the donor mice are about 10 weeks old.