Mechanisms of genetic resistance to Friend virus leukemia in mice. II. Resistance of mitogen-responsive lymphocytes mediated by marrow-dependent cells.

Friend leukemia virus suppresses the proliferative responses of normal thymus-dependent (T) and bursa equivalent-dependent (B) lymphocytes from spleen, thymus, lymph node, and bone marrow to mitogens. The suppressive effect of Friend virus complex (FV) requires fully infectious virions. Friend erythroleukemic cells, washed to removed extracellular virus, fail to suppress concanavalin A (Con-A)-induced mitogenesis of normal spleen cells. This indicates that FV does not mediate its immunosuppressive effect via transformed erythropoietic cells. The in vitro suppressive effect of FV on lymphocyte mitogenesis is under host genetic control. Spleen, bone marrow, and thymus cells from strains of mice susceptible to FV-induced leukemogenesis in vivo were quite susceptible to the suppressive effects of FV in vitro. On the other hand, similar cells from strains of mice such as C57BL/6 resistant to Friend erythroleukemia, were quite resistant to in virto immunosuppression by FV. Mitogenesis of splenic T cells from resistant B6 mice, previously treated with 89Sr, became susceptible to suppression by FV. This indicated that the in vitro resistance of lymphocytes to FV-induced suppression is not an intrinsic property of T cells, but is controlled by marrow-dependent (M) cells which are selectively eliminated by treatment with 89Sr. M-cell function does not develop in mice less than 3-wk old. The Con A response by thymus cells from 2-wk-old B6 mice was susceptible to suppression by FV, further supporting the concept that M cells may regulate the genetic resistance to FV.