The role of T-system immunity in reparatory regeneration of the bone tissue in animals

It has been demonstrated in experiments on mice (CBA X C57BL) X F1, thymectomized and irradiated by 800 R, with the haemopoietic system restored by bone marrow (B-mice) that in these animals, as compared with the controls, the changes in cellular immunity (inhibition of natural killer cells and stimulation of individual functions of the phagocytizing cells) are accompanied by considerable inhibition of osteogenesis. Compensatory regeneration of broken thigh-bone in B-mice is delayed by 5--10 days in various elements of the regenerated tissue in comparison with normal mice. Anatomical formation of the provisional callus in B-mice is not completed on day 21 and approaches a 14-day regenerate of the controls. The obtained results suggest the participation of T-system immunity in the reparatory regeneration of bone tissue.     

Influence of thymectomy on the lymphoid regeneration of hematopoietic bone marrow after sublethal irradiation]

In C57BL mice, bone marrow lymphoid regeneration after a sublethal irradiation is modified by a graft of normal marrow cells. This effect is suppressed in thymectomized mice since a lymphoid peak is observed after a 350 R irradiation; its composition is heterogeneous: small lymphocytes, lymphoblasts and peculier cells named "X cells". The same phenomenon is observed in mice where all the thymocytes and thymus derived and peripheral lymphocytes are destroyed. These results exclude that bone marrow lymphoid regeneration after irradiation is due to a migration of lymphoid cells of thymic origin to the marrow. They could be explained by the effect of a humoral thymic factor on marrow lymphopoiesis.     

Some endocrine aspects of the thymus gland.

In studies of the mouse thymus, lymphocyte mitoses are seen to be most frequent in the thymus cortex. There is evidence from thymic grafts that a hypothetical factor, thymopoietin, may stimulate mitosis of thymic lymphocytes. It is a factor which is postulated to act in conjunction with the PAS-positive mesenchymal reticular cells and epithelial reticular cells of the cortex. The thymus medulla is necessary for the integrity of thymic grafts, and may also elaborate a secretion for maintaining the cellular functions of the gland. Thymectomy has been used as a gauge for judging normal thymic function and results, in the mouse, in lymphopenia, degeneration of spleen and lymph nodes, delayed rejection of skin allografts, reduced ability of spleen cells to mount the graft versus host reaction, and reduced primary immune response to certain antigens. Correction of these deficiencies offers a means of evaluating various thymic extracts and grafts. Lymphocytosis-stimulating hormone (LSH) is known to maintain the peripheral lymphoid organs and cause lymphocytosis in the thymectomized animal. Diffusion chamber studies of thymic grafts also show restored lymphoid tissue by a cell-free factor (CIF). These two factors may be the same and probably represent the basis of the highly purified lymphocyte-stimulating proteins, LSHr and LSHh, which restore the L/P ratio in thymectomized animals and may stimulate lymphopoiesis in spleen and lymph nodes. LSHr, unlike LSHh, increases the total lymphocyte count. LSHr has been found to increase the humoral antibody response in neonatal mice both by the PFC technique and by direct hemolysis of sheep erythrocytes. Homeostatic thymic hormone (HTH) is a thymic extract of small molecular weight and contains nucleic acid. In the thymectomized guinea pig it has been found to maintain normal levels of lymphocytes in the blood, spleen and lymph nodes, to restore antibody titers to typhoid H antigen and to restore the toxic allergic reaction. Thymic humoral factor (THF) is of smaller molecular weight (less than 1,000) and probably is not a protein. It also enhances lymphoid proliferation in neonatally thymectomized mice. There is evidence that THF participates in humoral antibody formation because it stimulates PFC formation from neonatally thymectomized mice after inoculation with sheep erythrocytes. Its effects on cell-mediated immunity are seen from findings that injection of THF restores the ability of thymectomized mice to reject skin allografts. THF enables spleen cells from thymectomized or neonatal animals to mount the graft versus host reaction, and causes maturation of bone marrow cells and spleen or lymph node cells so that they can participate in the graft versus host reaction. It has been reported to stimulate lymphocytes to kill isogeneic tumor cells in vitro. Thymosin is protein extracted from the thymus. It has been found to alleviate leukopenia slightly and provide some improvement in lymphoid histology in thymectomized mice...     

The proliferative potential of CFUs from the bone marrow of thymectomized mice]

Proliferative potential of CFUs in bone marrow of young and adult mice (1.5-25 months) and thymus influence on this property were studied. It has been shown on the model of adult thymectomized mice that during "steady state" hematopoiesis, proliferative potential of bone marrow CFUs does not depend on the animals age and on thymic factors.     

Localization of thymostimulin in mouse and rat thymuses

Anti-bovine thymostimulin serum reacts with reticulo-epithelial cells in the cortex and in the medulla of rat and mouse thymuses. The immuno-reaction is present in a smaller number of cells which have more pallid color than those found in calf thymus. Comparative examination as to the distribution of other thymic factors and as to species-specificity was conducted.     

A chemotactic factor for rat thymocytes may regulate T-lymphocyte migration toward the thymic microenvironment

Using a modified Boyden chamber assay, extracts or culture supernatants of rat thymic stromal cells, or thymocytes were examined by chemotactic activity to rat leukocytes. Rat thymocytes responded chemotactically to the aqueous extract as well as to culture supernatants of thymic stromal cells. However, neither the extract and culture medium from concanavalin A-stimulated thymocytes nor any component of rat serum has shown such an activity. The thymic extract was fractionated into three molecular species with chemotactic activity for thymocytes. The thymocyte chemotactic factor(s) (TCFs) in the extract was distinct from known lymphocytic chemotactic factors, such as interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-2, C5a, and the culture supernatant of stimulated thymocytes. In vitro, TCFs could attract, in addition to thymocytes, bone marrow cells, fetal liver cells, and nylon-wool nonadherent lymphocytes from peripheral blood and spleen. Lymph node cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and B cells from peripheral blood could not respond to TCFs. Thymocytes also responded to the extract of splenic stromal cells. Unlike the thymic extract, however, the splenic extract was chemotactically active for lymphocytes from lymph nodes but not for bone marrow cells. These results indicate that thymic stromal cells secrete a chemotactic factor(s) for a relatively immature type of T-lineage cells, which may by a thymus-homing progenitor T cell, while spleen may contain an attractant for a relatively mature type of T-lineage cells.     

Differentiation characteristics of circulating and bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells and the effect of thymus factors

Circulating hemopoietic stem cells (HSC) considerably differ from bone marrow HSC in active erythroid differentiation. After thymectomy of adult animals the number and differentiation of blood HSC remain unchanged, whereas during the cloning of bone marrow cells, a decrease in the number of granulocytic colonies is revealed. In in-vitro experiments, thymalin does not influence the number or differentiation of circulating HSC. On the contrary, in experiments made in vivo, it dramatically lowers erythroid specialization of blood HSC in thymectomized and sham-operated mice, which is followed by the diminution of the total number of circulating HSC. Differentiation of thymectomized mice bone marrow stem cells is completely normalized after thymalin injection. Sham-operated and thymectomized animals' HSC stimulated by thymalin injection become similar to bone marrow cells of normal mice as regards the trend of differentiation. Thymalin injection is likely to change the bone marrow HSC differentiation profile, thereby preventing the release of the cells with erythroid-oriented differentiation from the bone marrow to blood. The influence of thymalin on HSC is mediated by the environmental component which is present in the bone marrow and absent from the peripheral blood.     

Respective influence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on the age-related decrease of thymic secretion.

The serum level of a circulating thymic factor (FTS) described in our laboratory diminishes in mice after adult thymectomy and with age. However, thymuses from old mice, when grafted into young adult thymectomized recipients lacking circulating FTS, can still partially restore the circulating FTS level of the recipients, whereas newborn thymuses are less efficient in restoring the serum level of FTS in old recipients than in young adult thymectomized recipients. Taken together, our results suggests that in addition to an intrinsic deficiency of the thymic secretion, "environmental" factors play a role in the disappearance of circulating FTS with age, the more so since we observed in old mouse sera factors inhibiting the in vitro biologic activity of FTS, factors that are absent from young mouse sera.     

Effect of the thymus on the activity of immunoreactive peptides

Influence of the thymic gland on the biology activity of peptide mediators--cytomedins, has been studied in the content of different organs. The peptide which was obtained from the liver, spleen and muscle of sham-operated animals enhanced immune response on the sheep red cells, lengthened indexes of thromboelastography, and activated fibrinolysis after its administration to the thymectomized rats. The peptides from organs of thymectomized animals lost this ability. These findings confirm the hypothesis on the regulating function of the thymic gland in the synthesis and activity of cytomedins in the tissues.     

Differentiation and a change in the sensitivity to antibrain serum of circulating colony-forming units under the action of thymic factors

The rabbit anti-mouse brain serum (RAMBS) that interacts with SC-1 marked cells, rather than with thymocytes and bone marrow cells, inhibits most of the blood and bone marrow colony-forming unit (CFU) population. A commercial thymus preparation thymalin increases the granulocytopoietic activity of the circulating CFU and decreases their sensitivity to RAMBS in thymectomized and normal animals. Differentiation of circulating CFU remains unchanged in thymalin-treated mice after RAMBS administration, while CFU erythroid activity of nontreated animals is lowered. The revealed changes in the CFU differentiation and sensitivity to RAMBS confirm the assumption that SC-1 antigen may mark Thy-1 lymphocytes of their microenvironment, rather than CFU.     

Inhibition of the growth of a syngeneic weakly immunogenic tumor in mice resulting from exposures affecting T lymphocyte activity

Adult BALB/c mice were thymectomized, lethally irradiated and reconstituted with cells of syngeneic embryonic liver (B-mice). The growth of the syngeneic low-immunogenic tumor of spontaneous origin (Acatol) was strongly inhibited in B-mice as compared to that in intact recipients. The transplantation of the tumor to adult-thymectomized hosts 3 months after operation also resulted in marked retardation of tumor growth as compared to intact or sham-operated animals. The same effect was observed in mice preimmunized with spleen cells from tumor-bearers but not from intact donors. It is inferred that BALB/c mice possess strong non-specific factors of tumor resistance. However, they are actively suppressed by the mature immune system. Apparently, tumor cells, regardless of low immunogeneity are antigenic enough for the syngeneic host and induce a series of immune reactions, bringing about activation of T suppressors. It is assumed that attempts at immunizing a tumor host with autochthonous T suppressors might lead to a promising approach to cancer immunotherapy.     

Impairment of prothymocyte activity by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

Exposure of experimental animals to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) results in severe thymic atrophy and suppression of cell-mediated and humoral immune functions. However, despite much effort the mechanism by which TCDD produces these responses, particularly thymic atrophy, remains unclear. In this report, we have examined the effect of acute TCDD exposure on lymphocyte stem cells in young adult BALB/c mice to determine whether alterations to events early in T lymphopoiesis contribute to TCDD-induced thymic atrophy. TCDD produced a dose-dependent reduction in thymic weight and cellularity following a single dose of 5 to 120 micrograms TCDD/kg. This thymic atrophy correlated with a dose-dependent suppression of the biosynthesis and mRNA levels of the lymphocyte stem cell-specific DNA polymerase terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase in bone marrow and thymus. However, the reduction in thymic terminal deoxynucleotidyl nucleotidyl transferase synthesis, on a per cell basis, was less than that observed in bone marrow. Intrathymic CD4/CD8 and IL-2R expression demonstrated only mild alterations after exposure to 30 micrograms TCDD/kg. These data suggest that thymocytes are more refractory to TCDD than are pre-T cells. To assess this possibility directly, bone marrow prothymocytes from TCDD-treated donor mice were examined for their capacity to reconstitute the thymuses of adoptive, irradiated recipients. Our results indicate that prothymocyte activity was severely impaired by TCDD exposure and that this effect occurred at low tissue levels of TCDD. In contrast, we observed no reduction in the number of colony-forming unit-granulocyte macrophage and a moderate decrease in colony-forming unit-spleen. These data suggest that TCDD-induced thymic atrophy is the result, at least in part, of impaired thymic seeding by prothymocytes.     

Transfer of immunity by transfer of bone marrow cells: T-cell dependency.

Thymectomized, lethally irradiated mice reconstituted with normal bone marrow cells succumbed when challenged ip with rat Yoshida ascites sarcoma (YAS) cells 40 days after irradiation and reconstitution. In contrast, thymectomized irradiated mice reconstituted with bone marrow cells from YAS-immune donors rejected the subsequent tumor challenge. Pretreatment of the bone marrow cells from immune donors with anti-Thy 1.2 antiserum and complement completely abolished the transfer of anti-YAS resistance.Bone marrow cells from donors thymectomized 2 months before immunization enabled almost all recipients to reject YAS, but bone marrow cells from donors thymectomized 8 months before immunization protected only 50% of the recipients. Further analysis showed that mice thymectomized 8 months before immunization failed to generate anti-YAS antibody response, whereas the antibody response of mice thymectomized 2 months before immunization did not differ from that of non-thymectomized age-matched control mice. The data suggest that the immune reaction of mice against xenogeneic YAS requires long-lived T₂ lymphocytes.     

Early appearance of donor-type antigen-presenting cells in the thymuses of 1200 R radiation-induced bone marrow chimeras correlates with self-recognition of donor I region gene products

The thymus exerts a potent influence on the development of I region self-recognition and antigen recognition by T cells. The mechanism by which the thymus acts on nascent T cells is unknown. It is assumed, however, that a cell interaction between the developing T cell and an la antigen-bearing cell in the thymus is involved. There are several candidates for the critical thymic cell; thymic epithelial, nurse, and antigen-presenting cells (APC) or dendritic cells. Because thymic epithelial cells derive from the third pharyngeal pouch and thymic APC derive from bone marrow, radiation-induced bone marrow chimeras allow the artificial creation of a chimeric thymus gland in which thymic epithelial cells and APC can be genetically different. We made radiation-induced bone marrow chimeras (F1 leads to P) using supralethal radiation doses (1200 R) and found bone marrow donor- (F1) type APC in the thymuses 3 wk after radiation. When such mice fully reconstitute their immune systems, their T cells behave as donor F1 phenotype T cells. Thus, the I region self-restriction and antigen-recognition repertoire of the T cells correlates with the genotype of the bone marrow-derived thymic APC, not the thymic epithelial cell.     

Cellular events during radiation-induced thymic leukemogenesis in mice: abnormal T cell differentiation in the thymus and defect of thymocyte precursors in the bone marrow after split-dose irradiation

Cellular events during the development of thymic lymphomas in young B10.BR mice given leukemogenic split-dose irradiation were studied by examining the differentiation of functional T lymphocyte precursors in the regenerating thymus. It was found that leukemogenic radiation treatment resulted in a sustained depression of the level of thymic cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursors (CTLp) and of mixed lymphocyte reactivity of thymus cells when assessed between 1 and 4 mo after irradiation, in spite of the fact that the total number of thymocytes was restored to the normal level within 2 mo and continued to increase thereafter. In vitro mixing studies of normal thymocytes with thymus cells from split-dose irradiated mice provided no evidence for active suppression as a mechanism for this depressed activity. The ability of bone marrow cells from split-dose irradiated mice to regenerate the thymus and to differentiate into functional CTLp was examined by use of supralethally irradiated Thy-1 congenic recipients. Reconstitution of supralethally irradiated B10.BR Thy-1.2 mice with normal bone marrow from B10.BR Thy-1.1 mice resulted in the complete repopulation of host-thymus with donor-derived cells when assessed at 4 wk after reconstitution. Lymphocytes from the regenerating thymus of these animals were shown to contain high levels of CTLp which were donor-derived. On the other hand, when the recipient mice were reconstituted with bone marrow cells from donor mice which had been split-dose irradiated 1 mo earlier, regeneration of the recipient thymus was severely depressed when assessed at 4 wk to 3 mo after reconstitution. Although variable but small numbers of donor-derived Thy-1+ cells were detected, CTL activity for alloantigen could not be induced in these donor-derived cells. The results suggest that T cell precursors derived from split-dose irradiated donor mice were unable to undergo active proliferation and differentiation into functional CTLp. The significance of these findings on radiation-induced thymic leukemogenesis is discussed.     

Intranuclear incorporation of thymic low molecular weight RNA by murine bone marrow immunoblasts and inhibition of plasma cell formation by a derivative of rifampicin

An in vitro culture system for the proliferation of IgG-forming plasma cells from mouse bone marrow cultures has previously been described. The present study attempts to elucidate the mode of action of thymic RNA in these cultures. Autoradiography after using radiolabeled thymic RNA showed that radioactive material was mainly incorporated into the nuclei of IgG-forming plasma cells. No radiolabeled thymic RNA was incorporated into the cells except immunoblasts. The incorporated thymic RNA was acid insoluble and digested by RNase, but resistant to DNase and pronase. Radioactivity in the nucleotide pool after the cells were cultured with radiolabeled thymic RNA was negligible, indicating that reutilization of degraded RNA did not occur in the nuclei of the plasma cells. Moreover, the incorporation of radiolabeled thymic RNA by the cells was not prevented by excess unlabeled nucleosides. Escherichia coli transfer RNA, L-cell RNA and synthetic polynucleotide poly(A-U) were incorporated but were distributed in a different manner in the cells. A derivative of rifampicin, 2'5'-dimethyl N(4') benzyl-N(4')[desmethyl]rifampicin (AF/ABDMP), a possible inhibitor of RNA-dependent DNA polymerases, suppressed both the incorporation of thymic RNA and the differentiation of immunoblasts. AF/ABDMP suppressed DNA synthesis by bone marrow cultures to the same level as those pretreated with anti-mouse B-cell antibodies and complement. DNA dependent RNA polymerase activity was observed in the supernatant of bone marrow cultures stimulated by normal syngeneic thymic RNA and human gammaglobulin as antigen. These results imply a possible relationship between B-cell differentiation and RNA-dependent DNA polymerases.     

Hematopoietic precursor cells in radiation chimeras restored by bone marrow from thymectomized mice]

Radioprotective capacity of bone marrow CFUs of adult thymectomized mice was studied. Lethally irradiated mice were inoculated with bone marrow of mice thymectomized 8-11 months before. The colony forming capacity and proliferative rate of CFUs were studied 1-7.5 months after obtaining the radiation chimeras. It has been shown that proliferative capacity of bone marrow of adult thymectomized mice was reduced in comparison with that of normal animals. It is related to the decrease (4-fold) of the proliferative rate of bone marrow of thymectomized mice which was inoculated into lethally irradiated recipients 1 month before. We also found that the content of CFUs in bone of those chimeras was reduced later--after 7.5 months. In this period (1-7.5 months) the cellularity of bone marrow did not change.     

Stimulation by normal and leukemic mouse sera of colony formation in vitro by mouse bone marrow cells

Using a modification of the agar gel method for bone marrow culture, serum from various strains of mice has been tested for colony stimulating activity. Ninety percent of sera from AKR mice with spontaneous or transplanted lymphoid leukemia and 40–50% of sera from normal or preleukemic AKR mice stimulated colony formation by C57B1 bone marrow cells. Sera from 6% of C3H and 30% of C57B1 mice stimulated similar colony formation. The incidence of sera with colony stimulating activity rose with increasing age. All colonies were initially mainly granulocytic in nature but later became pure populations of mononuclear cells. Bone marrow cells exhibited considerable variation in their responsiveness to stimulation by mouse serum. Increasing the serum dose increased the number and size of bone marrow cell colonies and with optimal serum doses, 1 in 1000 bone marrow cells formed a cell colony. Preincubation of cells with active serum did not stimulate colony formation by washed bone marrow cells. The active factor in serum was filterable, non-dialysable and heat and ether labile.     

Specific activation of lymphocytes against acetylcholine receptor in the thymus in myasthenia gravis

In 13 patients with myasthenia gravis, spontaneous in vitro production of antibody to acetylcholine receptor (AChR) by thymic cells was observed in seven patients, by bone marrow cells in nine, by peripheral blood cells (PBL) in six, and by lymph node cells in nine. The rate of anti-AChR production in culture closely correlated with the serum anti-AChR level. Specific activity of the immunoglobulin (Ig) G spontaneously produced (anti-AChR/total IgG) was about 10-fold higher in the thymus than in bone marrow, peripheral blood, or lymph node cultures. Pokeweed mitogen (PWM) enhanced anti-AChR production only by PBL. With neither thymus nor lymph node cells did PWM stimulate anti-AChR production, although it greatly enhanced total IgG production. In bone marrow, it depressed both, and it appeared that the anti-AChR was derived from long-lived plasma cells that may be responsible for delaying the fall of serum anti-AChR levels after thymectomy. The results suggest that AChR-specific cells are selectively activated in the thymus, and this may help to explain the benefits of thymectomy in myasthenia gravis.