E-rosetting of guinea pig lymphocytes with lyophilized rabbit red cells after treatment with papain and glutaraldehyde.

Guinea pig lymphoid cells were reacted to form spontaneous rosettes (E-rosettes) with rabbit red blood cells before and after treatment with papain or a very low concentration (0.01%) of glutaraldehyde alone or both. The papain-glutaraldehyde-treated cells showed as high ability as papain-treated cells to rosette with lymphoid cells prepared from thymus, spleen, lymph node and peripheral blood of guinea pigs. Moreover, papain-glutaraldehyde-treated red cells were lyophilized and stored for 1 year without any change in their ability to form E-rosettes with these lymphoid cells. Binding between lymphocytes and treated or nontreated red cells was completely inhibited by specific anti-guinea pig thymocyte serum. Furthermore, a lymphocyte population enriched for B cells from lymph nodes or leukemic cells of strain 2 guinea pigs (B cells) did not show any substantial E-rosettes with nontreated or treated red cells. Scanning electron microscopy revealed no surface alteration in the treated cells when compared to those in nontreated red cells.