In vitro proliferative response of BALB/c mouse spleen cells stimulated with trinitrophenylated syngeneic spleen cells.

Spleen cells from normal BALB/c mice showed in vitro proliferative response against hapten-conjugated syngeneic spleen cells. Trinitrophenylated (TNP) spleen cells were prepared by treating normal spleen cells with sodium 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulphonate (TNBS). Four-day cultures of TNP-labelled spleen cells incorporated 2.5-7.4 times more [3H]thymidine than similar cultures of untreated spleen cells. An obviously positive mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) by normal spleen cells against mitomycin C (MC) treated TNP-labeled syngeneic spleen cells was observed after 4 days of culture. The MLR to TNP-labelled syngeneic cells was inhibited in the presence of epsilon-TNP-L-lysine by 23-37%. The spleen cells from the mice injected intraperitoneally with TNP-labelled syngeneic spleen cells showed a higher MLR against TNP-labelled spleen cells than normal spleen cells. The sensitized spleen cells also showed an increased response to MC-treated spleen cells. These results suggest that normal spleen cells include cells which can recognize the hapten and new antigenic determinants introduced into syngeneic spleen by chemical modification.