Transition in the Character of Immunological Memory in Mice after Immunization

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Abstract
The immunological memory in antibody response of mice to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated at the level of antibody-producing cells or their precursor B [bone marrow-derived] cells and helper T [thymus-derived] cells. Spleen cells obtained from mice previously primed with alum-precipitated BSA at various times were transferred to irradiated syngeneic mice. Spleen cells from mice immunized 8 days or 64 days before presented a high degree of adoptive secondary response, whereas the adoptive response of cells from mice immunized 2 days previously was inferior even to that of unprimed spleen cells. Primed spleen cells treated with anti-mouse thymocyte rabbit serum plus complement were supplemented with normal thymus cells and the restoration of the responsiveness was examined. The memory was apparently carried mainly by T cells in the earlier phases of the immunological memory (2 days or 8 days after the primary immunization). The immunological memory in the B-cell population grew gradually toward the later phase (later than 40 days).