Dependency of B Cells on the Presence of Adherent Cells, or Factors Derived from Them, for the Production of Autoantibodies in Vitro in the Absence of Cell Division

Peritoneal cells from untreated mice secrete autoantibodies after 3-4 days of in vitro culture, although the cells do not divide. Here, peritoneal cells enriched for B cells to contain 95% surface Ig-bearing cells, did not secrete autoantibodies after 3 days of in vitro culture unless plastic-adherent cells derived from the peritoneal cavity were cultured with the B cells. Cell-free media, taken from peritoneal adherent cells that had been cultured for 3 days in vitro, when added a final concentration of 50% in fresh culture medium to purified B cells, substituted for the presence of accessory cells. In contrast to cultures of unfractionated peritoneal cells, little increase in precursor frequency was detected when enriched B cells were cultured in the presence of LPS/DXS. However, the addition of adherent cells, supernatants derived from adherent cells, or cytokines produced by a T-cell hybrid EL4, resulted in an increased precursor frequency when LPS/DXS was added to the culture medium. Three macrophage cell lines, P388-D1, J774, and PU-5-IR, when added to purified B cells. augmented the autoantibody precursor frequency detected in vitro. This is strong evidence that potentially autoreactive B cells require one or more types of accessory cells in order to differentiate into autoantibody secretors during culture in vitro. Further, the results provide indirect evidence that interleukin 1 may be a crucial molecule in the differentiation of B cells.