Characterization of donor-derived lymphocytes in chimeric rabbits.

Transfer of adult spleen, lymph node, or bone marrow cells to newborn recipients matched with the donor with respect to the major histocompatibility antigen or antigens, but mismatched with regard to immunoglobulin allotypes results in lasting B cell chimerism. Using such chimeras as donors for secondary recipients, the persistence of B cells from the original donor and the ability of such cells to propagate in the secondary recipient have been demonstrated. In contrast to the effective establishment of donor B cells in primary and secondary recipients, functional T cells of donor origin were not demonstrable among lymphocytes of primary recipients.