Induction of early alloantigen tolerance in thymus and spleen

Abstract

Both thymocytes and splenocytes from B6 (H-2b) mice injected as neonates with C3H(H-2k) or (B6 X C3H)F1 cells exhibited specific nonresponsiveness to the H-2KD alloantigens in question. Thus, tolerance could be induced in strain combinations which did not share H-2 antigens. Induction of specific allotolerance did not require the presence of Thy-1.2+, Ia+ or G10-Sepharose-adherent cells in the donor inoculum, however injection of irradiated (1200 rad) cells was ineffective. Evidence of specific unresponsiveness was found as early as 5 days after birth and was not abrogated by adding either irradiated normal spleen cells or exogenous interleukin-2 in vitro. In fact, in some experiments there ..