Enkephalin-containing peptides processed from proenkephalin significantly enhance the antibody-forming cell responses to antigens.

Highly conserved enkephalin containing peptides (ECPs) are selectively processed from proenkephalin, which is synthesized in both the neuroendocrine and immune systems. The reported regulatory effects within the central nervous system and the biologic release patterns from both activated lymphocytes and stimulated adrenal chromaffin cells suggest the ECPs may act as regulatory factors of the immune system. We tested the effects of three of the ECPs, Peptides F, E, and B, on the in vitro Ab-forming cell (AFC) response murine splenocytes to antigenic challenge. In contrast to the immunosuppressive effects of the pentapeptide enkephalins, physiologic concentrations of the ECPs significantly enhanced the AFC response to both T cell-dependent and T cell-independent Ags. The effects are not sensitive to competition by the opiate receptor antagonist, naloxone, suggesting cell surface interactions that do not involve classical opiate receptors. These studies provide evidence that the effects are mediated through T cells rather than B cells. Peptide F-treated splenocytes also showed a significant enhancement of the AFC response to suboptimal Ag concentrations, suggesting a mechanism of action in which the ECPs may act to lower the threshold of activation of the effector cell. These results suggest that the ECPs are physiologically important modifiers of the humoral immune response. Given their release patterns and demonstrated action on the in vitro immune response, the proenkephalin-derived ECPs have the potential to be involved in both paracrine and autocrine regulatory networks within the immune system and as a positive immunoregulatory effect from the neuroendocrine system.

Athymic (nude) mice fail to delete functional self-reactive helper T cells.

We have examined the thymic requirement for the antibody response to a foreign antigen coupled to self erythrocytes. We find that self erythrocytes mediate thymus-independent, carrier specific help for the antibody response to the pneumococcal cell wall polysaccharide antigen, PnC. Thus, athymic nude mice gave a high primary antibody plaque-forming cell (PFC) response to PnC-mouse RBC but a low response to PnC coupled to sheep or burro RBC. The meager response to PnC coupled to foreign RBCs could not be attributed to antigenic competition since the response to the carrier (burro RBC) was < 100 PFC per spleen. Reconstitution of nude mice with splenic T cells from euthymic mice enhanced rather than suppressed the antibody response to PnC-mouse RBC. The results document that in the absence of thymic deletion, functional self-reactive helper cells persist in the nude mouse.

Inhibition of antigen- and mitogen-induced activation of mouse splenocytes by uterine secretions from pregnant and progesterone-treated ewes.

Pregnant and progesterone-treated, ovariectomized ewes accumulate secretory products in the uterus that are immunosuppressive in mitogen-stimulated and mixed lymphocyte sheep cell cultures. In this study, uterine secretions from pregnant (Preg-UTM) and progesterone-treated, ovariectomized (P-UTM) ewes were equally effective in suppressing 3H-Tdr incorporation in mouse spleen cells stimulated with PHA. P-UTM inhibited PHA-stimulated, purified T-cells and separated L3T4+ and Lyt2+ T-cell subpopulations more than Preg-UTM, however. Both fluids were slightly inhibitory to conA-stimulated mouse spleen cells, enriched T-cells, and Lyt2+ T-cells but neither inhibited L3T4+ T-cells. For LPS-stimulated cells, P-UTM caused more suppression than Preg-UTM of enriched B-cells; however, suppression was similar for the two fluids on unseparated splenic cells. In antigen-stimulated mouse spleen cell cultures, both fluids inhibited antibody-forming cell responses to sheep erythrocytes, a thymus-dependent antigen, but neither suppressed antibody-forming cell responses to TNP-Ficoll, a thymus-independent antigen. These data indicate that uterine secretions in the ewe produced under the influence of progesterone or pregnancy contain immunoregulatory molecule(s) which modulate the activity of both homologous sheep and unrelated mouse lymphocytes. These studies establish the mouse as a useful in vivo model for studying the biological actions of these molecules.

T-cells inhibit Friend murine leukemia virus infection of B-cells in vitro.

The ability of splenic T-cells to regulate Friend murine leukemia virus replication in lipopolysaccharide-activated target B-cells infected in vitro was investigated. Removal of the T-cell fraction from spleen cells resulted in an 8- to 10-fold enhancement in the number of productively infected cells in the remaining B-cell-enriched fraction, as compared with unseparated spleen cells, and the addition of increasing numbers of purified T-cells to isolated B-cells prior to infection resulted in a directly proportional reduction in the number of B-cells releasing infectious progeny virus. Separation of splenic T-cells into Lyt 2- and Lyt 2+ T-cells before addition to infected B-cell cultures resulted in inhibition of infection only with the Lyt 2- T-cells; Lyt 2+ T-cells did not inhibit infection, even at high 1:1 ratios. Similarly, separation of splenic T-cells into L3T4+ and L3T4- T-cells before addition resulted in inhibition by L3T4+ but not L3T4- T-cells. Also, cytotoxic treatment of splenic T-cells with monoclonal anti-L3T4 antibody and complement before addition to B-cell cultures destroyed the regulatory effects. Finally, depletion of macrophages from both T-cells and B-cells before infection and coculture had no effect on the ability of T-cells to regulate B-cell infection. Collectively these results demonstrate that L3T4+ T-cells can inhibit Friend murine leukemia virus replication in target B-cells. Culture of isolated splenic T-cells with Friend murine leukemia virus in vitro resulted in the induction of alpha/beta but not interferon-gamma synthesis and in some experiments interferon-containing supernatants from T-cell-virus cultures were able to mediate suppression of B-cell infection with Friend helper virus; the addition of antibody specific for interferon-alpha/beta to cultures inhibited the ability of T-cells to regulate B-cell infection.

Decreased pathogenicity of murine leukemia virus-Moloney in gnotobiotic mice.

Newborn germ-free (GF) and conventional (CV) BALB/c mice were infected with murine leukemia virus-Moloney (MuLV-M) and subsequently monitored for virus expression and leukemia development. GF mice expressed more than 10-fold less virus in peripheral blood compared with CV mice, despite equivalent numbers of infected cells in the spleens, lymph nodes, thymi, and bone marrow of both groups. In addition to lower levels of virus expression, the latency period before the onset of fatal leukemias was greatly extended in GF mice; the first and last fatalities were recorded at 25 and 43 weeks postinfection, respectively, with a mean survival time of approximately 36 weeks. In CV mice, the first and last fatalities occurred at 8 and 17 weeks, respectively, with a mean survival time of approximately 13.5 weeks. Finally, the gross pathology of involved lymphoid organs varied in the two groups. GF mice experienced severe splenomegaly with or without lymphadenopathy but without thymoma; CV mice, in contrast, developed splenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, and severe thymoma. Collectively, these results indicate a marked resistance of GF animals to MuLV-M and suggest that the level of immune system activation may influence the pathogenicity of nontransforming retroviruses.

Target cell heterogeneity in murine leukemia virus infection. III. Identification of susceptible Lyt 1+ and resistant Lyt 2+ T-cell subsets following in vitro infection with Friend murine leukemia virus.

The susceptibility of splenic T-cell subpopulations to productive infection with Friend murine leukemia virus was determined after in vitro infection and stimulation with Con A. Con A enhanced the number of productively infected cells in unseparated spleen cells as well as in T-cell-enriched spleen cell fractions. Splenic T cells were fractionated into Lyt 1+ and Lyt 2+ subpopulations using both positive and negative selection techniques; susceptible splenic T cells were recovered in the Lyt 1+ fraction and specific cytotoxic treatment with anti-Lyt 1 antibody and complement reduced the number of infectious center-producing cells by greater than 87%. In marked contrast, Lyt 2+ splenic T cells were resistant to productive infection by Friend murine leukemia virus in vitro.

Phenotypic heterogeneity of leukemias associated with Friend MuLV infection: studies on T-cell lymphomas and null cell leukemias in euthymic and thymus-deficient mice.

The development of leukemia/lymphoma in euthymic and congenitally thymus-deficient (nude) mice infected with Friend murine leukemia virus (Friend MuLV) was investigated; both groups developed fatal leukemias within 2-4 months post-infection but the gross and micropathology of lymphoid organs, coupled with cell-surface marker studies indicated the development of two distinct forms of disease. In euthymic mice one group developed lymphosarcomas manifested by thymoma, hepatosplenomegaly and lymphadenopathy whereas the second group developed splenic leukemias manifested only by hepatosplenomegaly. Analysis of surface markers on spleen cells from mice experiencing lymphosarcomas indicated that the majority of cells were positive for Thy 1.2, Moloney cell surface antigen (MCSA), and viral-coded gp70 and p30 antigens but negative for surface immunoglobulin (sIg). Euthymic mice experiencing splenic leukemias yielded spleen cells negative for Thy 1.2, sIg, and MCSA but positive for gp70 and p30. Nude mice uniformly developed splenic leukemias, spleen cells from which were Thy 1.2, MCSA, gp70 and p30 negative, although the proportion of sIg positive cells was higher than that observed in euthymic mice experiencing splenic leukemias. No correlation between the development of lymphosarcoma vs splenic leukemia and a pattern of ecotropic and/or xenotropic MuLV expression was observed. While ecotropic MuLV expression was equivalent in both euthymic and athymic mice, euthymic mice expressed approx. 10-fold higher levels of xenotropic MuLV than nude mice, however. Collectively the data suggest that infection of mice with Friend MuLV results in the development of two possible forms of disease, lymphosarcoma involving T cells vs splenic leukemia involving B and/or null cells.

T and B lymphocyte susceptibility to murine leukemia virus moloney.

The susceptibility of T and B lymphocytes to productive infection and transformation by murine leukemia virus Moloney was determined by enumeration of cells producing infectious virus after in vitro infection of mitogen-stimulated, isolated cell populations and by in vivo infection of euthymic BALB/c and thymus-deficient (nude) mice. Our in vitro results demonstrated that the majority of splenic T cells and thymocytes are resistant to productive infection in vitro; a specific subpopulation of susceptible nylon-adherent splenic T cells was identified, however. Similarly, surface immunoglobulin-positive B cells also represent susceptible targets in vitro; mature B cells, however, did not represent the principal target for transformation in the in vivo experiments. Infected euthymic mice expressed increasing titers of murine leukemia virus and uniformly developed fatal T-cell lymphomas at 10 to 12 weeks postinfection; nude mice, in contrast, maintained high, stable levels of viremia throughout the 28 weeks of observation. Infected nude mice remained free of malignancy or developed either granulocytic leukemias or, in one case, reticulum cell sarcoma. Collectively, the results indicate that while the majority of T cells are resistant to productive infection, they represent the principle targets for transformation; B cells, however, represent permissive targets for virus replication, but are resistant to transformation.

In vitro tapeworm extract-induced proliferative responses of gut-associated lymphoid cells from Hymenolepis diminuta infected mice.

The development of lymphoid cells reactive to tapeworm-associated antigens during the course of Hymenolepis diminuta rejection from mice was studied using an in vitro tapeworm extract (TWE)-induced cell proliferation culture system. Mice infected with three cysticercoids on day 0 developed three adult worms by day 7 but worms were rejected by day 21 post-infection. Concomitant with worm rejection was the development of TWE-sensitized lymphoid cells which responded by proliferation when stimulated in vitro with TWE. Sensitized cells were detected in gut-associated mesenteric lymph nodes but were not detected in spleen, axillary lymph nodes, or Peyer's patches of infected mice, or in lymphoid organs of non-infected mice. These studies suggest that rejection of H. diminuta from mice is associated with the activities of gut-associated, tapeworm antigen-sensitized immune cells localized in the mesenteric lymph nodes.

Loss of tolerance to thymus-donor strain antigens in nude mice bearing long-term allogeneic thymus grafts.

In contrast to lymph node cells from nonthymus gland-implanted nude mice, which failed to respond to foreign alloantigens in mixed lymphocyte reaction tests, lymph node cells from nude mice implanted with either syngeneic or allogeneic thymuses responded well following stimulation with third-party allogeneic cells from strains unrelated to the nude host or thymus-donor strain. Responses to thymus-donor strain alloantigens by lymph node cells from nude mice implanted with allogeneic thymuses were in part dependent upon the duration of the thymic implants; no responses were observed using cells from mice implanted 3 mth previously whereas the majority of experiments yield positive responses using cells from mice implanted 12 mth previously, suggesting a functional breakdown of the tolerant state with time post allogeneic thymus implantation. In no case were positive responses specific for the nude host strain observed.

Target cell heterogeneity in murine leukemia virus infection. II. Demonstration of Friend leukemia-virus-permissive and non-permissive subsets of splenic T cells.

The permissiveness of normal splenic lymphocytes to Friend murine leukemia virus was determined by enumeration of cells producing infectious MuLV following infection with Friend virus in vitro. The infection was enhanced greatly in the presence of mitogens in the culture medium. The number of infected cells in cultures stimulated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide increased progressively between days 1 and 7 whereas in cultures with concavalin A, the number of infected cells reached a maximum on days 3-4 post infection and then declined to the level observed in unstimulated cultures. The con-A-enhanced infection was absent in cultures of splenocytes from nude mice but was present in cultures from nude mice implanted with thymus glands 6 weeks or more before use as donors of spleen cells. The cells permissive to MuLV upon con-A stimulation segregated in the nylon-wool-adherent fraction (together with B cells involved in the LPS-dependent infection) whereas the nylon-non-adherent fraction, containing approximately 90% T cells, was refractory to in vitro infection. The con-A-dependent infectious centers were inhibited by cytotoxic treatment with anti-Thy 1.2 antibody plus complement. These results indicate the existence of two subpopulations of splenic T cells, a major nylon-non-adherent and a minor, nylon-adherent subpopulation, which are, respectively, non-permissive and permissive to MuLV-Friend.

Inhibition of in vitro Friend murine leukemia virus infection of lipopolysaccharide-activated B-cells with concanavalin A.

Stimulation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of splenic B-lymphocytes infected in vitro with Friend virus complex increased the number of cells with replicating murine leukemia virus (MuLV) [i.e., infectious centers (IC)] up to 100-fold. Concanavalin A (Con A) did not have such an effect. However, the addition of Con A to the LPS-stimulated cultures decreased the number of IC. The inhibitory concentration of Con A (2.5 microgram/ml) was eightfold less than that capable of neutralizing the in vitro infectivity of MuLV (20 microgram/ml). The effect of Con A was not mediated by T-cells; the inhibition of infection was comparable with use of whole spleen cell suspensions from normal BALB/c mice, with T-cell-depleted cell suspensions, or with spleen cells with congenitally athymic nude mice. However, specific removal of Con A from the surface of B-cells with alpha-methyl-D-mannopyranoside prior to the infection reversed the inhibitory effect entirely. It is suggested that the lectin interferes with MuLV on the membrane of B-cells.

The course of Hymenolepis nana infections in thymus-deficient mice.

The kinetics of infection with Hymenolepis nana was examined in normal thymus-deficient mice. Following inoculation with 5 cyticercoids, the number of adult lumen-dwelling H. nana in congenitally thymus-deficient (nude) mice ultimately was at least 75 times the maximum infection intensity of normal thymus-bearing mice or thymus-reconstituted nude mice. Similar results were obtained following inoculation of H. nana eggs into nude mice; although thymus-bearing mice eliminated their infections, nude mice harbored more than 1,000 adult worms throughout the 7 weeks of the experiments. These data show that in mice, immunity is not generated against H. nana in the absence of thymus function. The data also confirm and establish the requirement of cysticercoid development in the intestinal mucosa for stimulation of a protective immune response against H. nana.

Thymus dependence of tapeworm (Hymenolepis diminuta) elimination from mice.

Although normal mice eliminated the lumen-dwelling intestinal cestode Hymenolepis diminuta by day 21 post-cysticercoid inoculation, congenitally thymus-deficient (nude) mice maintained their work burdens. Nude mice grafted with thymus glands or injected with thymus cells eliminated their worms.

Studies on the immune response of congenitally athymic (nude) mice.

The central role of the thymus in immunity was assessed in nude mice. Nudes failed to reject allografts and xenografts and to respond to foreign erythrocytes but responded normally to endotoxin and pneumococcal polysaccharide. Thymus reconstitution was demonstrated in vivo and in vitro whereas reconstitution with thymic humoral factors or polyanions was not detected. Coliform overgrowth and depressed IgA levels in nudes appeared to contribute to wasting. These data emphasize the need for thymus participation in many immune phenomena.