Hapten‐bearing cell in carrier‐determined tolerance

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Abstract
The relationship between tolerance to the 2,4‐dinitrophenyl (DNP) hapten and cells bearing this hapten on their surface, was investigated using autoradiography. Animals injected with nontolerogenic conjugates of DNP‐ε‐lysine‐IgG, DNP‐azo‐IgG, and DNP‐mustard‐IgG (J. Immunol. 1975. 115: 1409) did not have splenic lymphocytes bearing DNP on their surface 5 days after their last injection, while those injected with tolerogenic conjugates of DNP‐ε‐lysine‐IgG did have splenic hapten‐bearing cells. Control studies showed that I25I‐labeled anti‐DNP used to reveal hapten‐bearing cells did react with the nontolerogenic conjugates on the cell surface. There was no difference in the numbers of hapten‐bearing cells in animals receiving either 100 μg or 1000 μg of tolerogenic DNP‐IgG 5 days after the injection. Animals injected with 1000μg of tolerogen remained tolerant for 6 months. These tolerant animals still had hapten‐bearing cells in their spleens 6 weeks after injection. In contrast, animals which had lost tolerance 3 months after 200 μg of tolerogen injection did not have hapten‐bearing cells.These experiments confirm that the hapten DNP remains on the surface of hapten‐binding cells in tolerance only. It is unlikely that the carrier alone, either nonspecifically or specifically via Fc binding, accounts for the presence of the tolerogen on lymphoid cells because it would be observed with nontolerogenic as well as tolerogenic DNP‐IgG conjugates. A direct relationship between tolerance and hapten‐bearing cells exists. The significance of this correlation to the mechanism of tolerance is discussed.