Lymphoid cell subpopulations. I. Synergy between lymph node cells and thymocytes in response to alloantigens and mitogens.

Mixtures of isogenic thymocytes (TC) and lymph node cells (LNC) were shown to exhibit synergistic responsiveness to M and H-2 alloantigens in the mixed lymphocyte interaction (MLI). With respect to the kinetics and magnitude of proliferation and effector cell generation, the response occurring in synergizing cultures closely resembled that of optimal numbers of LNC or spleen cells (SC). In addition, the antigen specificity of effector cells generated by synergizing cultures was similar to that of effectors derived from cultures containing optimal numbers of responding SC. LNC-TC mixtures also exhibited synergy in response to the phytomitogens concanavalin A and pokeweed mitogen but not to phytohemagglutinin. Weakly positive synergy was observed in response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide. It is proposed that the phenomenon of synergy is not restricted to cultures containing mixtures of LNC and TC but also occurs in cultures containing optimal numbers of LNC or SC as a result of interactions between subpopulations of lymphocytes contained within these tissues.