Novel form of T-cell stimulation of immunoglobulin secretion

Abstract

THE precise mechanism of action by which helper T cells induce precursor B cells to acquire the capacity to secrete immunoglobulins^1,2 remains poorly understood. This paucity of information is due, in part, to the temporal lag between the initial T cell–B cell interactions relatively early in the process and the subsequent expression of these interactions a day or more later^3,4. This time lag presumably relates to the time required for B cells to undergo a maturation or differentiation after interaction with T cells. We now report that, using a pulse-label technique, we have observed that the addition of thymus cells to previously cultured spleen populations during the 90-min pulse-label period resulted in a marked increase in the rate of secretion of immunoglobulin. Moreover, the enhancement occurred without detectable delay.