The accessory cell function of murine Peyer's patches.

The cellular composition and certain functional characteristics of murine Peyer's patches (PP) were examined and compared with other lymphoid tissues. The composition of PP resembled most closely that of the spleen with the exception of a significant decrease in the number of adherent and phagocytic cells. Very few cells with dendritic morphology could be identified in Peyer's patches. Whole PP (and the nonadherent population) were capable of presenting antigen ovalbumin, human gammaglobulin, and purified protein derivative in a T proliferative assay to sensitized lymph node cells and to an antigen-specific T-cell clone. The antigen-presenting cell in both the spleen and PP was concentrated in the low-density population which floated on 1.080 bovine plasma albumin. However, equal numbers of whole and PP floaters were deficient in their capacity to present antigen compared with similar populations from spleen. Moreover, in PP the antigen-presenting cell appeared in the nonadherent rather than the adherent population as found with other lymphoid tissues. Similar results were obtained with (B6A)F1, CBA, A.TFR-1 and B10.S (12R) mice, suggesting that the inability of adherent cells from PP to present antigen effectively was not genetically determined. Whole and nonadherent PP contained cells capable of stimulating an allogeneic MLR, although again they were generally inferior to those of the spleen when comparable numbers of cells were employed. The adherent population of PP did not elicit an MLR. However, whole PP contained accessory cells needed for mitogen-induced proliferation since passage over nylon-wool columns resulted in a nonadherent fraction which did not respond to concanavalin A or phytohemagglutinin and the addition of adherent peritoneal exudate cells restored the lectin response. The differences noted in the accessory cell function in PP and other lymphoid tissues suggest the possibility that quantitative or qualitative differences in the function of these cells may explain some of the previously observed characteristics of PP, such as the inability to detect a primary antibody response in this tissue. The possibility that the development of gut-associated suppressor cells and their migration to peripheral tissues may be involved in the systemic tolerance that follows oral immunization and that these may be related to numerical and/or functional differences in macrophages or accessory cells is discussed.