The foundation of the research compilation presented here began
with the derivation of an improved method for obtaining optimal in vitro
mitogenic responses in salmonid lymphocyte cultures by utilizing
autologous or homologous plasma as the primary serum supplement. It was
observed that lymphocytes which were previously unresponsive to
mitogenic challenge in vitro, when cultured in fetal bovine serum, responded
well when cultured in the presence of homologous plasma. Salmonid
plasma sources not only repeatedly enhanced the mitogen-specific
proliferation of the lymphocyte cultures, but enhanced the antibody response
as well. A prolonged kinetic response further supported the contention that
former conditions of salmonid lymphocyte culture, employing only fetal
bovine serum, not only fail to provide the optimal conditions for cell growth,
but in many cases the essential conditions. Enhancement of the mitogenic
response was observed for three distinct species, using a common plasma
source, suggesting utilization of plasma as an alternate serum supplement
has broad applications and may be adapted to many fish systems.
With this improved culture system, examination of the regulation of
lymphocytes, specifically B cells, was undertaken. Evidence for the
existence of a natural regulatory cell population located in the anterior
kidney is presented. Addition of anterior kidney cells to either autologous
peripheral blood or spleen cell cultures resulted in significant suppression of
the mitogen response. The degree of suppressor activity appears to be
correlated with the anterior kidney lymphocyte's ability to respond to
mitogenic stimulus. It is demonstrated that a decrease in the anterior kidney
mitogen response correlates significantly with an increase in the suppressor
activity observed upon coculture of these same cells with peripheral blood
lymphocytes. Interestingly, while addition of anterior kidney cells to spleen
plaque forming cell cultures also resulted in suppression, anterior kidney
cells had either no effect or enhanced the antibody response of the
peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures. It is postulated that the mediator of
this anterior kidney activity is a suppressor cell population which may
possess an important immunoregulatory function. / Graduation date: 1992
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/36779 |
| Date | 20 March 1992 |
| Creators | DeKoning-Loo, Jenefer |
| Contributors | Kaattari, Stephen L. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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