[Liver regeneration and the immune system. II. Suppressor activities of lymphocytes activated in vivo by liver regeneration and their genetic control]

Abstract

The lymph node cells (LNC) activated in vivo by liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy of mice (pLNC: primed lymph node cells) respond to regenerating liver cells in vitro with typical secondary immune response characteristics (as shown in Paper I). These lymph node cells activated in vivo suppress the proliferation of responder lymphocytes cultured with mitomycin C (MMC)-treated regenerating syngeneic liver cells (sMLHLR). The suppressive activity was already present in LNC 4 days after partial hepatectomy and remained unchanged for at least 16 days. These pLNC were effective not only on sMLHLR but also on syngeneic mixed lymphocyte culture (sMLR) and allogeneic mixed lymphocyte culture (MLR), of which responder cells share I-A (I-B) subregions of MHC with pLNC. The pLNC restimulated in vitro with regenerating liver cells (ppLNC: in vitro reactivated pLNC) suppress the proliferation of syngeneic responder cells in sMLR, but not of cells from congeneic mice differing from the ppLNC at a cluster of genes linked to the Ig locus. Thus the suppressive activity of pLNC is controlled by the I-A (I-B) subregions of the MHC and that of ppLNC by genes in the Ig region.