Immunohistological Detection of B Lymphocytes in the Rat Lymphoid Organs by Using Anti-Rat B Lymphocyte Serum

Abstract

YAMANAKA, N., ISHII, Y., KOSHIBA, H. and KIKUCHI, K. Immunohistological Detection of B Lymphocytes in the Rat Lymphoid Organs by Using Anti-Rat B Lymphocytes Serum. Tohoku J. exp. Med., 1981, 135 (2), 187-196-Anti-rat B lymphocyte serum (ARBS) was prepared by immunizing rabbits with purified B cells from rat spleen and by absorbing the rabbit serum with rat red blood cells and syngeneic sarcoma cells. The specificity of ARBS for rat B cells was confirmed by various cytologic and immunofluorescence studies. By indirect immunofluorescence on tissue sections of rat spleen and lymph nodes, anatomical localizations of B cells in lymphoid organs were lymphoid follicles of the lymph node and lymphocyte corona surrounding periarteriolar lymphoid sheaths of the spleen; while cells located in the thymus-dependent area were essentially devoid of immunofluorescence or no cytoplasmic immunofluorescence was observed in plasma cells. Thus, the B cell distribution in tissue sections was clearly demonstrated with ARBS. When the cross-reactivity of ARBS with mouse B cells was studied by complement-dependent cytotoxicity and immunofluorescence, it was found that mouse B cells shared at least one determinant of rat B lymphocyte specific antigens (RBLA) with rat B cells, and that the distribution pattern of the cross-reacting antigens in mouse lymphoid tissues was essentially the same as that of RBLA in rat lymphoid organs.