The transfer of antigen-specific humoral immunity from marrow donors to marrow recipients.

This study shows that specific humoral immunity could be transferred from marrow donors to marrow recipients. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from long-term human marrow recipients produced IgG anti-tetanus toxoid antibody after in vitro tetanus toxoid stimulation. Antitetanus toxoid antibody biosynthesis was induced using a new tetanus toxoid-specific system employing high lymphocyte numbers, many replicate microcultures, and antigen washout. Anti-tetanus toxoid antibody in 12-day culture supernatants was detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Of 14 marrow recipients, 6 (5 with and 1 without chronic graft-vs-host disease) had lymphocytes that produced anti-tetanus toxoid antibody. Culturing additional numbers of marrow recipient lymphocytes increased in vitro biosynthesis of anti-tetanus toxoid antibody. The presence of circulating serum antibodies to tetanus toxoid and the production of specific anti-tetanus toxoid antibody by peripheral blood lymphocytes from marrow recipients show that engrafted donor lymphocytes can produce in vitro specific antibodies to recall antigens without postgrafting reimmunization.