The humoral response in TCR alpha-/- mice. Can gammadelta-T cells support the humoral immune response?

An optimal humoral response requires T-cell help; however, it has been questioned if this help comes exclusively from alphabeta-T cells or whether gammadelta-T cells also contribute. We have attempted to answer this question by studying the humoral response in T-cell receptor alpha-chain knockout (alpha-/-) mice, which lack the alphabetaT cell subset. Two model antigens were used to characterize the response: the thymus-independent (TI) antigen native dextran B512 (Dx), and the thymus-dependent (TD) antigen heat shock protein (HSP65) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. When challenged with Dx, the alpha-/- mice elicited a strong antibody response and formed rudimentary germinal centres (GCs), a T-cell dependent reaction. In contrast, the humoral response to HSP65 was poor. However, alpha-/- mice became primed when challenged with HSP65, because when supplemented with wild-type thymocytes, the antigen-primed animals were able to mount a stronger response than the nonprimed ones when challenged with HSP65. A crucial step seems to be the collaboration between gammadeltaT cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs), as splenocytes from alpha-/- mice were able to respond to HSP65 in an environment containing primed-APCs. Based on these results, we propose a model for B-cell activation in the alpha-/- mice.