Chorioallantoic Membrane Lesions produced by Inoculation of Adult Fowl Leucocytes

Abstract

INTEREST in the reaction of the chick embryo to inoculation with adult homologous tissues, noted in 1916 by Murphy¹, has been renewed by the investigations of Simonsen² and Cock and Simonsen³, which indicate that the alterations in the embryo, including splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and hæmolytic anæmia, result from an immunological attack by the adult cells on the embryonic tissues. This communication reports that cell suspensions prepared from adult fowl blood, spleen or thymus, when placed on the chorioallantoic membrane, produce characteristic membrane lesions in addition to splenomegaly and hepatomegaly. The chorioallantoic lesions closely resemble the splenic nodules observed by Isacson⁴ which developed in 11–15 day chick embryos following intravenous injection of adult homologous leucocytes or spleen cells. Isacson suggested that the splenic nodules represented foci of adult donor cells which were stimulated to proliferate by contact with foreign embryonic antigens, and which were afterwards walled off and destroyed by the maturing embryo.