Radioresistance of cooperative function of carrier-specific lymphocytes in antihapten antibody responses.

Transfer of lymphoid cells from strain-2 guinea pigs immunized to bovine gamma globulin into syngeneic recipients immunized with dinitrophenyl ovalbumin markedly enhances the secondary antidinitrophenyl response of the recipient to challenge with dinitrophenyl-bovine gamma globulin. This function of the carrier bovine gamma globulin-specific cells is resistant to irradiation with up to 5000 rads, although the capacity of the irradiated cell population to transfer immunologic memory for bovine gamma globulins or to be stimulated by antigen to synthesize DNA in vitro is abolished by this treatment.