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The B cell antigen receptor (BCR) delivers inhibitory signals in nascent B cells leading to the establishment of tolerance via clonal deletion or clonal anergy depending upon the type of antigen to which the B cells are exposed. In previous work, it has been demonstrated that activated Th2 cells, as well as some recombinant lymphokines, prevent the inhibition of growth and subsequent cell death induced through the BCR in model B cell lymphomas. Herein, we extend this work to another Th2 lymphokine, IL-10, that in contrast to IL-4 does not interfere with the deletion promoted by IgM crosslinking. The effect of individual lymphokines has also begun to be analyzed in a transgenic model of B cell clonal deletion. To this end, we have administered a recombinant vaccinia virus producing human IL-2 to mice expressing an autoreactive H-2Kk,b-specific transgenic IgMk and found that IL-2 does not abrogate B cell deletion in vivo.

The purpose of this research was to determine whether prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a major product of macrophages which can kill certain murine B cell lymphomas, induces death by a necrotic mechanism or by an alternate pathway called apoptosis. CH31 is a phenotypically "immature" B cell lymphoma which resembles immature neonatal B cells in its susceptibility to killing by reagents which cross-link surface immunoglobulin (sIg). In the present study we first show that PGE2, but not the closely related prostanoid, PGF2 alpha, kills CH31 lymphoma cells. In contrast, CH12, a phenotypically "mature" lymphoma which is not negatively affected by sIg cross-linking, is not induced to die after exposure to PGE2. Agarose gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the DNA of PGE2-treated CH31, but not CH12 cells, is cleaved into characteristic 200 base pair oligonucleosomal fragments indicative of an apoptotic mechanism of death. However, a necrotic form of death, indicated by random DNA cleavage which produces a smear following electrophoresis, could be induced by treatment of CH12 or CH31 with anti-class II MHC antibodies and complement. The apoptotic mechanism of CH31 cell killing by PGE2 was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy which demonstrated the unique membrane blebbing and bubbling pathognomonic of this form of death. Finally, using a recently devised flow cytometric method to study apoptosis in heterogeneous cell populations, we compared the ability of anti-IgM, PGE2, or PGF2 alpha to induce apoptosis in B lymphocytes from neonatal or adult mice. Anti-IgM, and to a lesser extent PGE2, but not PGF2 alpha, induces apoptosis in a fraction of neonatal B cells. None of these treatments induced cell death in B lymphocytes from mature mice. Overall, these observations suggest that PGE-secreting cells such as macrophages, which inhabit the B cell microenvironments of lymphoid organs, may eliminate a subset of immature B lymphocytes and may be important in controlling the spread of PGE-sensitive malignant B lymphoma cells.

We have utilized several B-cell lymphomas that are growth inhibited by anti-Ig reagents as models for tolerance induction. In a previous communication, we demonstrated that the growth inhibition by anti-Ig can be partially prevented by the recombinant lymphokine, IL-4. In this paper, we report that complete protection of B lymphomas from anti-Ig was provided by a type 2 helper cell clone, D10.G4, when these T cells were activated by monoclonal anti-CD3. Conditioned medium from anti-CD3-stimulated D10.G4 cells also provided protection from anti-Ig. In contrast, little protection was observed with activated cells from a type 1 T-cell clone, A.E7. Furthermore, we show that combinations of IL-4 and tumor necrosis factors (both TNF alpha and TNF beta), as well as IL-4, effected partial protection by themselves and enhanced the activity of the other lymphokine if used in a pretreatment protocol. However, anti-cytokine antibodies were ineffective at reversing the T-cell-mediated protection. The possibility that direct T:B-cell contact mediates part of the protective signal is discussed.

ECH408-1 is a murine B cell lymphoma expressing idiotypically and allotypically distinguishable transfected and endogenous IgD. Previously, we demonstrated that this cell line was not growth inhibited by antibodies directed at membrane IgD, but could be inhibited by antibodies which crosslink membrane IgM. Herein, we demonstrate that both anti-μ and anti-δ will cause calcium mobilization in this transfected cell line; this is followed by a period during which antibodies against the alternative isotype are unable to induce significant increases in intracellular calcium concentrations. This phenomenon, called “desensitization,” is short-lived, lasting 20 min. We further demonstrate that acute desensitization of these cells by anti-δ has no effect on immediate growth inhibition which is elicited by anti-μ. These data confirm our earlier proposal that the rapid, initial calcium response seen in these lymphomas is not required for the negative signal for growth. Moreover, we also demonstrate that pretreatment of these lymphoma cells with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) also renders these lymphoma cells temporarily incapable of manifesting a significant calcium signal. Nonetheless, PMA-pretreated B lymphoma cells are not altered in their subsequent sensitivity to anti-μ growth inhibition, nor are they affected in their resistance to inhibition by anti-δ. Our data confirm the proposal that neither the calcium signal nor protein kinase-C activation is involved in the modulation of B lymphoma growth.

The CH family of murine B-cell lymphomas includes several members that are sensitive to growth inhibition when their membrane IgM (mIgM) receptors are cross-linked by anti-mu chain, anti-kappa chain, or anti-idiotypic antibodies. These lymphomas are IgM+, Ia+, and IgD +/- and resemble neonatal B cells in terms of their exquisite sensitivity to anti-IgM-mediated negative signaling as a model for tolerance induction. In this report, we describe the properties of one of these lymphomas, CH33, which had been transfected with a construct containing an allotypically different delta chain constant region and the heavy chain variable region fragment from S107 (T15 idiotype positive). This transfected cell line allowed us to investigate the possibility that membrane IgD (mIgD) and mIgM can mediate different signals. Our results show that the transfected cells retained their exquisite sensitivity to anti-IgM-mediated growth inhibition; however, crosslinking of IgD with anti-delta chain antibody did not inhibit their growth. Furthermore, even prolonged pretreatment with anti-IgD antibodies did not affect cell growth nor did it modulate the inhibitory effects of anti-IgM antibody. Moreover, identical results were obtained with clones of CH33 that express significant amounts of endogenous IgD. Thus, the failure of mIgD to deliver a negative signal does not reflect a defect in the transfected IgD but appears to be a general property of IgD in these cells. The mIgD was shown to mediate transmembrane signals because anti-delta chain treatment resulted in Ca2+ mobilization in transfected CH33 cells and capping of those receptors. We conclude that mIgD can mediate qualitatively different signals than mIgM can and that mIgD expression per se is not sufficient to change the functional phenotype of immature B cells.

While there is accumulating evidence to indicate the presence of functional abnormalities in T cells from aged healthy humans, their cellular basis remains unclear. By using two-color immunofluorescence and multiparameter flow cytometry we show that (a) the number of peripheral blood antigen receptor-positive (TcR-CD3+) T cells is significantly lower in aged than in young adults; (b) the numbers of E-rosette-forming (CD2+) cells are maintained in the elderly due to a reciprocal increase in the frequency of TcR-CD3- cells, which constitute only a minor lymphocyte subpopulation in young adults, and (c) TcR-CD3-CD2+5- lymphocytes exhibit the phenotypic features of natural killer (NK) cells. By using functional assays we show the TcR-CD3-CD2+16+ lymphocytes are indeed NK cells because they are activated by and lyse NK targets. In contrast, they are unresponsive to either phytohemagglutinin or mitogenic CD2 monoclonal antibody stimulation, which in turn activates TcR-CD3+CD2+16- T cells. We conclude that the increase in TcR-CD3-CD2+ NK cells masks the T cell reduction in aged humans by normalizing CD2+ cell frequencies. However, NK cells cannot functionally substitute the thymus-derived lymphocytes they replace.