Zöller M, Andrighetto G
Immunobiology. 1984 May;166(3):228-37. doi: 10.1016/S0171-2985(84)80041-8.
Nu/nu BALB/c mount a primary in vivo anti-TNP response to T-dependent TNP-antigens in the range of normal BALB/c mice. However, the response against the carrier (horse red blood cells, HRBC) was in the magnitude of about 5% as compared to normal BALB/c mice. Neither against the hapten, nor against the carrier a secondary response was observed. It could be shown by in vitro experiments that nu/nu contain a small population of TNP specific as well as HRBC specific T-helper (THTNP, THHRBC) cells. But even within the small nu/nu T-cell population, TH cells are less frequent than in T-cell populations of normal mice. Furthermore, the difference in help between nu/nu and normal BALB/c was more pronounced with respect to the anti-HRBC than the anti-TNP response. These observations could explain the lack of a secondary in vivo response being due to the low number of TH cells and the apparent in vivo unresponsiveness against HRBC as a consequence of the low frequency of THHRBC.
裸鼠（nu/nu）BALB/c对T细胞依赖性TNP抗原产生的原发性体内抗TNP反应与正常BALB/c小鼠相当。然而，与正常BALB/c小鼠相比，其针对载体（马红细胞，HRBC）的反应强度约为5%。无论是对半抗原还是对载体，均未观察到二次反应。体外实验表明，裸鼠（nu/nu）含有少量TNP特异性以及HRBC特异性T辅助细胞（THTNP、THHRBC）。但即使在数量较少的裸鼠（nu/nu）T细胞群体中，TH细胞也比正常小鼠的T细胞群体中更为少见。此外，与抗TNP反应相比，裸鼠（nu/nu）和正常BALB/c在抗HRBC反应方面的辅助差异更为明显。这些观察结果可以解释为何缺乏二次体内反应，这是由于TH细胞数量少以及THHRBC频率低导致对HRBC明显的体内无反应性。
