AN ANALYSIS OF THE INITIAL REACTION IN THE SEQUENCE RESULTING IN HOMOLOGOUS SPLENOMEGALY IN THE CHICK EMBRYO

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Abstract
The sequence of reactions following implantation of adult chicken spleen on the chorioallantoic membrane of 10-day chick embryo host was analyzed by determining the ability of the affected tissue to induce splenomegaly in other hosts. Grafts of embryonic spleen adjacent to adult spleen and other tissue grafts, within two days exposure, were able to induce splenomegaly. This suggests a rapid migration of donor cells to the adjacent chorioallantois, spleen, and other host organs. However, donor cells labeled with tritium thymidine were not readily detected in the host spleen. The capacity of the embryonic environment not only to support immune reactions but also to permit maturation of immune response was demonstrated by serial propagation of embryonic spleen in non-inbred embryos. A cumulative response was obtained, approximately paralleling the normal development in the chicken of the ability to elicit splenomegaly. However, stimulation was not obtained by the serial propagation of embryonic spleen cells in inbred embryos nor in a series in which the initial donor was derived from a different inbred line. Pre-immunization of chicks of one inbred line by skin homografts from a second line did not enhance the former''s spleen ability to stimulate.