Genetically restricted immune responses in guinea pigs primed in vivo with antigen-bearing macrophages

Abstract

Guinea pigs injected intradermally with antigen pulsed macrophages generate a population of immune T cells that proliferate in vitro on second exposure to antigen. T cells from F1 (2 X 13) guinea pigs immunized with DNP-OVA on one parental macrophage respond in vitro only to DNP-OVA on macrophages identical to those used for immunization and not to DNP-OVA associated with the other parental macrophages. These results demonstrate that the immunogenicity of antigen is dependent upon the macrophages used for priming in that, with this approach, strain 2 or 13 guinea pigs immunized with allogeneic macrophages pulsed with antigen do not respond to either allogeneic or syngeneic antigen-bearing macrophages. However, lysates of antigen-pulsed macrophages can still immunize either allogeneic or syngeneic recipient via their own macrophages. F1 (2 X 13) guinea pigs are immunized by insulin B chain pulsed strain 13 macrophages (responder) but not by strain 2 macrophages (nonresponder) suggesting that whether a F1 (nonresponder X responder) guinea pig recognizes antigen bound to a parental macrophage is genetically restricted before immunization to the same extent as the donor parental macrophages used for immunization.