Maturation of regulatory factors influencing magnitude of antibody response to capsular polysaccharide of type III Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Mice of different ages were evaluated for their ability to give a plaque-forming cell response to the capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae (SSS-III). The response of amplifier and suppressor thymus-derived (T-) cells was also evaluated. The responses to an optimally immunogenic dose of SSS-III for two-and three-week-old mice were only 7% and 14%, respectively, of that produced by adult mice; values comparable to those of adult mice were attained by four weeks of age. Activity of amplifier T-cells, which was minimal at two to four weeks of age, matured slowly and did not reach a maximum until eight to 10 weeks of age. However, activity of suppressor T-cells was found to be fully developed as early as two weeks of age. These findings indicate that the inhibitory effects of suppressor T-cells are predominant in young mice and that such cells may play an active role in determining the ease with which immunological unresponsiveness is induced in neonates.
Maturation of regulatory factors influencing magnitude of antibody response to capsular polysaccharide of type III Streptococcus pneumoniae. Mice of different ages were evaluated for their ability to give a plaque-forming cell response to the capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae (SSS-III). The response of amplifier and suppressor thymus-derived (T-) cells was also evaluated. The responses to an optimally immunogenic dose of SSS-III for two-and three-week-old mice were only 7% and 14%, respectively, of that produced by adult mice; values comparable to those of adult mice were attained by four weeks of age. Activity of amplifier T-cells, which was minimal at two to four weeks of age, matured slowly and did not reach a maximum until eight to 10 weeks of age. However, activity of suppressor T-cells was found to be fully developed as early as two weeks of age. These findings indicate that the inhibitory effects of suppressor T-cells are predominant in young mice and that such cells may play an active role in determining the ease with which immunological unresponsiveness is induced in neonates.