Bone marrow continuously produces many B lymphocytes but the homeostatic mechanisms regulating this process are unknown. Two possible factors, the size of the B lymphocyte pool and antigenic stimulation, were examined, using radioautographic DNA-labeling with ('3)H-thymidine to quantitate lymphocyte turnover. In mice injected with anti-IgM antibodies from birth to delete all surface IgM-bearing B lymphocytes the rate of production of small lymphocytes per femur was indistinguishable from controls. In contrast, an injection of sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) in normal mice produced a transient increase in small lymphocyte turnover and increased numbers of both of immature B cells and of null small lymphocytes, as revealed by radioautographic labeling of surface IgM and Thy.1 antigen and of cytoplasmic (mu) chains. This response also occurred with other stimulants as well as in athymic and anti-IgM treated mice, but not in mice treated with silica to depress macrophage function. Chronic elevation or depression of extrinsic stimuli by repeated SRBC injection or feeding an elemental diet, respectively, produced corresponding changes in the level of the steady state of marrow lymphocyte production. The results indicate that the genesis of virgin B cells and other lymphocytes in bone marow is independent of feedback control from the peripheral B lymphocyte pool but may be amplified by environmental antigens, apparently an antigen non-specific effect mediated by macrophages.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.77142 |
| Date | January 1982 |
| Creators | Fülöp, Gabrielle Maria Irene. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Anatomy) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 000139414, proquestno: AAINK58066, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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