T mitogens trigger LPS responsiveness in mouse thymus cells.

Mouse thymus cells are essentially unresponsive to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. However, when cultured with minimally mitogenic levels of concanavalin A or submitogenic ratios of mitomycin-treated allogeneic spleen cells, in combination with LPS, they demonstrate levels of DNA synthesis de novo or greater than those induced by the T cell mitogen alone. Dose-response kinetics were characteristic of LPS. The subpopulation containing the LPS responsive cells was of low net buoyant density. Neither phytohemagglutinin nor pokeweed mitogen acted synergistically with LPS in this model to trigger thymus cells. The data suggest that LPS triggering may involve interaction with a T cell subpopulation.