Delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to H-Y antigen in mice. Effects of soluble antigen from Sertoli cells.

The delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to the H-Y antigen was investigated in female mice which had been pre-treated with soluble or insoluble H-Y antigen. The present results suggest that Sertoli cells, cultured in vitro, release a factor which, if highly soluble, induces tolerance to male spleen cells. Mice showing marked DTH produced high titre H-Y antibodies after further injections of spleen cells from syngeneic males.