Immunological studies of NK cell-deficient beige mice. I. Defective ability of beige lymphocytes to mediate local and systemic graft-versus-host reactions

We have examined the role of donor natural killer (NK) cells in various forms of local and systemic graft-versus-host reaction (GvHR), by using beige mouse lymphocytes as the donor cell population. In contrast to lymphocytes from normal, congenic C57Bl/6 (B6) mice, beige spleen cells could not induce either an acute, lethal GvHR or a proliferative form of GvHR in adult, unirradiated F, hybrid hosts. In addition, beige donor cells produced little GvHR in the popliteal lymph node after local transfer and caused less severe and less sustained intestinal GvHR in unirradiated hosts. However, beige cells were fully capable of inducing a lethal GvHR in irradiated hosts. These studies indicate that beige mice have a defective ability to induce many types of GvHR, but suggest that this is a quantitative abnormality rather than an absolute lack of responsive cells. We propose that this may reflect a defect in T-cell function rather than a pure NK cell defect.     

Leishmaniasis in beige mice.

The courses of two protozoal diseases, cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis, were examined in three groups of C57BL/6J mice. One group of mice was homozygous recessive for the beige gene (bg/bg). Beige mice are the genetic homologue of the human Chédiak-Higashi syndrome and, among other defects, are profoundly deficient in natural killer cell activity. Wild-type (+/+) mice, which respond to experimental cutaneous or visceral leishmaniasis by eventually eliminating their parasites, and heterozygous beige (bg/+) mice served as controls; both are phenotypically normal in natural killer cell activity, which is particularly high in the spleen. In bg/bg mice, the course of Leishmania tropica, a causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis, was similar to that in control mice after both primary and challenge inoculations. All groups of mice expressed similar humoral and cellular immune responses to L. tropica antigen. However, bg/bg mice failed to eliminate amastigotes of Leishmania donovani, a causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis, from their spleens over an observation period of 56 days, in contrast to bg/+ and +/+ controls. Similar levels of anti-leishmanial antibody were produced by all groups of mice, and all mice responded comparably to footpad injections of L. donovani antigen. The results of this study suggest a possible role for natural killer cells in recovery from L. donovani but not from L. tropica infection.     

Abnormally large lamellar bodies in type II pneumocytes in Chediak-Higashi syndrome in beige mice.

Lamellar bodies in type II pneumocytes are markedly enlarged in beige mice. The irregular shapes of some of these enlarged specialized lysosomes suggest fusion of smaller ellipsoidal bodies to form the giant organelles, consistent with the proposal of others for the mechanism of formation of abnormal lysosomes in Chediak-Higashi syndrome. Examination of the structure of lamellar bodies by the freeze-fracture technique reveals highly ordered stacking or concentric wrapping of the constituent lamellae. The corrugated patterns evident on the surfaces of normal lamellae are also present in Chediak-Higashi syndrome lamellae. Both normal and Chediak-Higashi syndrome lamellae appear free of typical intramembranous particles. The corrugations seen in the lamellae closely resemble those seen on freeze-fracture of dispersions of lecithin in water.     

Immunological studies of the functions of paramyxovirus glycoproteins

The HN and F glycoproteins of the paramyxovirus SV5 were purified and monospecific antibodies to each prepared. The effects of bivalent (IgG) and monovalent (Fab) forms of these antibodies on the biological activities of the glycoproteins were determined. Anti-HN antibodies inhibited adsorption of virus to erythrocytes, hemagglutination, and hemolysis. Inhibition of hemolysis was shown to be secondary to the inhibition of adsorption; anti-HN antibodies added after virus adsorption did not affect hemolysis. Anti-HN antibodies inhibited neuraminidase activity, and this inhibition was independent of substrate size in experiments in which virus and antibodies were allowed to react and substrates of different size added, i.e., neuraminlactose and fetuin. This result is in contrast to previous findings with influenza virus in which antibodies inhibited the action of the viral enzyme on the macromolecular substrate only. Thus with SV5, the antibodies appear to inhibit the hydrolytic process directly, rather than sterically hindering the access of the enzyme to large substrates, as in the case in influenza virus. Anti-F antibodies had no effect on virus adsorption or neuraminidase activity, but inhibited hemolysis when added either before or after absorption, confirming the direct involvement of the F protein in the hemolytic process. The inhibition of virus adsorption, neuraminidase, and hemolytic activities by the respective antibodies was accomplished by Fab fragments as well as IgG, indicating that in each case the inhibitory activity was a consequence of a direct effect on individual glycoprotein molecules rather than crosslinking of glycoproteins or aggregation of virions. Both anti-HN and anti-F antibodies neutralized virus infectivity in MDBK and CV-1 cells. Anti-F IgG and Fab, and anti-HN IgG caused essentially complete neutralization in both cell types; however, anti-HN Fab caused only partial neutralization in CV-1 cells.     

Listeriosis in beige mice and their heterozygous littermates.

The ability to resist the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes was not impaired in the beige mutants of C57BL/6J mice which are known to be deficient in a number of immune functions. The intravenous LD50 of Listeria in beige (bg/bg) mice and their normal heterozygous (bg +) littermates was approximately 5 X 10(5). Growth of Listeria in the spleen and liver during primary and secondary infections was similar in the two groups of mice, and each was able to act efficiently in adoptive transfer of immunity. Histological examination showed a normal accumulation of polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells at foci of infection in the liver, while in the spleen the previously described depletion of T cells 2-4 days after infection was observed in both groups. In-vitro 18-hr cytotoxicity of peritoneal cells for P815 targets, a function usually attributed to macrophages, was increased 2 days after infection in both bg/bg and bg/+ mice. In contrast, 4 hr cytotoxicity of spleen cells for YAC-1 targets, considered typical of natural killer (NK) cells, was depressed in uninfected bg/bg mice and only slightly raised during infection. This compared with a normal NK activity in uninfected bg/+ mice which was markedly increased during infection.     

Cutaneous leishmaniasis in mast cell-deficient W/Wv mice.

Genetically mast cell-deficient W/Wv mice infected with Leishmania amazonensis showed progressive development of ulcerative skin lesions. However, no significant differences between the W/Wv mice and the normal littermates with respect to size of the lesions, anti-Leishmania immunoglobulin E antibody, and the number of eosinophils accumulated in the lesions were observed.     

Systemic Coccidioides immitis infection in nude and beige mice.

The course of experimental systemic Coccidioides immitis infection was assessed quantitatively and histologically in beige mice, congenitally athymic nude mice, and their respective normal counterparts. After intravenous inoculation with 50 arthroconidia, the number of viable C. immitis cultured from the spleens, livers, and lungs progressively increased throughout the assay in the organs of all mice. During the first 2 weeks of infection, significantly greater numbers of CFU were recovered from the spleens and livers, but not the lungs, of nude mice than from the respective organs of their phenotypically normal littermates. Significantly greater numbers of CFU were cultured from the lungs and spleens of beige mice compared with the number recovered from their functionally normal littermates. After intranasal inoculation, extrapulmonary dissemination of C. immitis occurred at an equal rate and resulted in similar organ burdens in nude mice and their normal littermates. Histological examination of infected tissues revealed a characteristic mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate in euthymic mice; the response in nude mice was less severe, consisting predominantly, if not solely, of granulocytes. In addition, in tissue sections from nude mice, but not in those from their euthymic counterparts, mature spherules were frequently observed to be devoid of an associated inflammatory response. The inflammatory lesion in beige mice contained a predominance of mononuclear cells, whereas their littermates responded with a typical mixed granulomatous infiltrate. Collectively, these results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that resistance to C. immitis infection involves two primary cell populations, one under the direct influence of T-cells and the other independent of T-lymphocytes.     

Pathogenesis of Cryptococcus neoformans in congenitally immunodeficient beige athymic mice.

Mortality after intravenous challenge with 10(4) Cryptococcus neoformans demonstrated that doubly immunodeficient beige athymic (bg/bg nu/nu) mice were more susceptible to systemic cryptococcosis than either bg/bg or nu/nu mice. Infected bg/bg nu/nu mice also had a shortened lifespan compared with their bg/bg nu/+ littermates. Beige athymic (bg/bg nu/nu) but not bg/bg nu/+mice developed cryptococcal lesions in the skin, demonstrating that C. neoformans is dermatotropic in a T-cell-deficient host. Higher numbers of C. neoformans were isolated from the lungs and spleen of infected bg/bg nu/nu than bg/bg nu/+ mice as early as day 3 after challenge, indicating that in lymphoid-rich organs, T cells can alter the course of systemic cryptococcosis early in the infection. Despite extensive abscess formation in the brains of bg/bg nu/+ mice, dissemination and growth rate of C. neoformans in the brain was similar in both genotypes. The primary histopathological feature in tissues from bg/bg nu/nu mice infected with C. neoformans consisted of foci of encapsulated yeast cells with minimal to no inflammatory response. In contrast to bg/bg nu/nu mice, bg/bg nu/+ mice mounted a vigorous inflammatory response to C. neoformans that progressed from acute to chronic inflammation. Beige athymic mice are a new animal model that will be useful in clarifying the innate and acquired immune factors important in resistance to cryptococcosis.     

B cell-deficient mice do not develop type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA)

To investigate the role of B cells in the development of CIA, a model for rheumatoid arthritis, we investigated susceptibility to CIA in mice lacking B cells due to the deletion of the IgM heavy chain gene (μMT). The μMT deletion was backcrossed into two different CIA-susceptible strains, B10.Q and B10.RIII. Two different variants of the CIA model are inducible in these strains: in B10.Q with rat type II collagen (CII) and in B10.RIII with bovine CII. Homozygous deletion of the IgM gene led to the absence of B cells and dramatically reduced immunoglobulin levels compared with wild-type mice. The deletion of IgM totally abrogated development of CIA in both strains, although the anti-CII T cell response did not differ between the μMT and wild-type controls. We conclude that B cells play a crucial role in the development of CIA.     

Immunological defects in SJL mice.

SJL mice are shown to be defective in their ability to develop suppressor cells following stimulation with Con A, a polyclonal T-cell activator. They make a normal proliferative response to this mitogen. In addition to this suppressor T-cell defect, the SJL mouse (unlike most mouse strains) does not develop a spontaneous antibody response to bromelain-treated autologous red blood cells (BrMRBC) in vitro. Although the SJL makes a normal proliferative response to LPS, antibody-forming cells against bromelain-treated autologous red blood cells are not increased following LPS in vivo nor does it manifest an increased response to SRBC or TNP. This may signify the presence of a functional B-cell defect in these animals. DBA mice are also shown, in this report, to have small numbers of antibody-forming cells to bromelain-treated autologous red blood cells but to be capable of responding to LPS in vivo with an increase in SRBC and TNP antibody responses.     

Oxygen radical generation by polymorphonuclear leucocytes of beige mice.

Oxygen radical generation was measured using peritoneal exudate polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) from a strain of beige mice, an animal model of the Chediak-Higashi syndrome. These PMN have been shown to exhibit delayed microbial killing and impaired phagosome-lysosome fusion. The amount of superoxide anion released by the PMN of the beige mice was similar to that released by the PMN of the control mice. The PMN of beige mice generated slightly less hydrogen peroxide than the control. Hydroxyl radical (.OH) generation and luminol-dependent chemiluminescence were significantly lowered in beige PMN stimulated with opsonized zymosan (OZ) or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). Cytochalasin B-treated beige PMN showed a decreased ability to degranulate myeloperoxidase in response to OZ or PMA. We demonstrated the significant decrease in .OH generation and chemiluminescence in beige PMN, which might be one of the reasons to explain delayed microbial killing.     

Immunological clearance of 75Se-labelled Trypanosoma brucei in mice. II. Mechanisms in immune animals.

Using trypanosomes labelled with [75Se]-methionine a series of experiments was conducted to investigate the respective roles of antibody, macrophage activtion and complement in the removal of trypanosomes from the circulation of immune mice. It was found that clearance in such animals is largely accomplished by antibody-mediated hepatic phagocytosis, which, at least in passively immunized animals, is dependent on opsonization involving C3. No evidence was found to suggest that intravascular lysis or activated macrophages are involved in immune clearance.     

Immunological studies in angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy.

Immunological studies were carried out on two female patients with angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy (AIL). Both presented with fever, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, rash and apparent ampicillin hypersensitivity. During the active phase of the disease, cellular immunity was depressed and T cell blastogenesis induced by lectins was abnormal. In the first patient, a non-dialysable plasma factor was found that inhibited normal lymphocyte blastogenesis, the removal of which enhanced the activation of AIL lymphocytes. This inhibitory plasma factor was also observed in the second patient during relapse of the disease. The latter patient responded well to steroid and levamisole therapy, showing clinical remission and a return of in vivo and in vitro parameters of cellular immunity. Defective B cell regulation due to impaired suppressor function, followed by immunoglobulin overproduction, is suggested to occur in AIL.