Enhanced proliferation,survival, and yield of cultured myelin basic protein (MBP)-reactive Lewis rat lymph node cells following dual activation with concanavalin A and MBP

Lymph node cells (LNC) from Lewis rats sensitized 7 days previously to myelin basic protein (MBP) exhibit greatly increased survival and undergo much greater proliferation when cultured in the presence of both concanavalin A (Con A) and MBP. Dual activation, in contrast to culture with either the mitogen or the neural antigen, results in a substantially greater yield of lymphoblasts with the capacity to transfer experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) to normal syngeneic recipients. Dual activation provides a practical advantage over other methods reported to date for securing larger numbers of functional MBP-reactive lymphoid cells for immunologic studies.