Immunoregulation in the rat: ontogeny of B cell responses to types 1, 2, and T-dependent antigens.

The development of rat B cells has been examined in neonatal and adult Fischer rats through the use of type 1 (TNP-Brucella abortus), type 2 (TNP-LPS(Ph), TNP-Ficoll) and T cell-dependent (TD) (SRBC) antigens. In vivo splenic PFC responses to TNP-Brucella abortus could be induced in newborn rats and by 12 days of age had reached adult levels. In contrast, the responses to the type 2 and TD antigens were 30% and 70%, respectively, of the adult levels at 30 days of age. Adoptive transfer of the B cells from neonatal and young rats into irradiated adult hosts demonstrated that the kinetics in the development of responses to these antigens (early for type 1, intermediate for TD, and late for type 2) were not due to limiting accessory cell or T cell help in immature rats. In vitro cultures of purified B cells from neonatal and adult rats were responsive to TNP-BA and TNP-LPS(Ph) but not to TNP-Ficoll and SRBC. However, the addition of spleen cell-derived Con A supernatant to the B cell cultures resulted in responses to all four antigens, which arose as a function of B cell age, with kinetics that were identical to those observed in vivo. Fluorescent staining of B cells from rats of various ages for cell surface IgM and analysis on the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) revealed that all splenic B cells from rats 4 days of age expressed a relatively high level of sIgM, and that a subpopulation that expressed a relatively low level of sIgM increased with age until it represented approximately 50% of the adult splenic B cells. Challenging Con A supernatant-supplemented cultures of FACS-prepared low sIgM+ and high sIgM+ cells revealed that B cells responsive to TNP-Ficoll were confined to the ontogenically late-arising low sIgM+ subpopulation but that B cells responsive to TNP-BA, TNP-LPS(Ph), and SRBC were present in both subpopulations.