Suppression of IgE antibody formation in mice: requirement for T-T lymphocyte interaction.

Norman SWR mice injected with syngeneic spleen cells from ovalbumin (Ov)-primed mice were unable to make IgE anti-Ov antibodies when challenged with alum-pertussis-Ov. Immune T lymphocytes were shown to be responsible for the inhibitory effects of adoptively transferred spleen cells. Treatment of recipient mice with mild x-irradiation or with cyclophosphamide 2 or 3 days before cell transfer resulted in abrogation of the suppressor effect of immune cells. The injection of T lymphocytes into x-irradiated milce restored the suppressive effect of immune cells. It thus appears that immune T cells provide the stimulus for activation of suppressor T cells of the host. Although the generation of suppression is antigen-specific, the expression of suppression appears to be nonspecific.