Mechanism of Follicular Antigen Trapping: EVIDENCE FOR A TWO CELL MECHANISM USING DOUBLE ISOTOPE AUTORADIOGRAPHY.

Normal mice were intravenously injected with 125I-labelled HGG-anti-HGG complexes and 2 weeks later with 131-I-labelled HGG-anti-HGG complexes. One week after the last injection the mice were killed and the localization of 125I and 131I in the spleen was studied using a double isotope autoradiographic stripping technique. It appeared that 125I-labelled HGG-anti-HGG and 131I-labelled HGG-anti-HGG complexes were both localized in exactly the same sites of the splenic follicle centres. It was concluded that both immune complexes were retained by the same dendritic cells. 131I-labelled HGG-anti-HGG complexes however were still localized in the periphery of the follicles shortly after injection at a time when 125I-labelled HGG-anti-HGG complexes were already present in the follicle centres. If indeed cells carry immune complexes from the periphery of the follicles towards the follicle centres as suggested by previous studies, the present findings confirm that immune complexes are transferred from these cells to other cells (dendritic cells) in the follicle centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]