Functional half-life of virgin and primed B lymphocytes.

The functional half-life, a measure of the persistence of lymphocytes in an antigen-free environment, has been estimated and found to be about 7 days for virgin 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl (TNP)-reactive mouse B cells, and 2--3 times longer for TNP-primed B cells. Using allotype-congenic mice, lymph node cells were transferred from virgin or primed CBA/Igb donors to normal CBA/Iga recipients, and the proportion of donor B cells estimated at intervals...