Polyclonal activation of canine B lymphocytes evaluated by a protein A reverse hemolytic plaque assay.

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the optimal culture and assay conditions for the polyclonal activation of canine lymphocytes with pokeweed mitogen and the quantitation of immunoglobulin secreting plaque-forming cells (PFC) using a staphylococcal protein A-reverse hemolytic plaque assay. The assay permits the quantitation of total immunoglobulin secreting PFC as well as class-specific immunoglobulin secreting PFC. On the optimal day of culture, a mean of 176 IgA PFC/10(6), 575 IgM PFC/10(6), 1276 IgG PFC/10(6), and 2158 total PFC/10(6) cells were generated following polyclonal activation. This study provides a simple and reproducible assay for the delineation of the immunoregulatory mechanisms involved in the differentiation of canine B lymphocytes.