The ability of bacterial lipopolysaccharide to modulate the induction of unresponsiveness to a state of immunity. Cellular parameters.

Studies were performed to define the cellular parameters involved in the interference with the induction of immunologic unresponsiveness to human gamma globulin (HGG) by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Mice which were injected with deaggregated HGG (tolerogen) and with LPS did not become tolerant to that antigen, but rather became primed to a subsequent challenge with immunogen. The ability to prime with tolerogen and LPS was also demonstrated in an adoptive transfer system. The temporal relationship between the injection of tolerogen and that of LPS was critical for priming to occur. The injection of tolerogen and LPS not only primed mice to HGG, but also resulted in a primary antibody response to HGG. The capacity of LPS to interfere with the induction of tolerance was restricted to B cells and did not affect the ability to induce unresponsiveness in T cells. The secondary response to HGG in mice primed by tolerogen and LPS was found to be T-cell independent. These observations are interpreted and discussed from the standpoint of the ability of LPS to circumvent required T-cell cooperation and to modulate to tolerogenic stimulus into an immunogenic signal.