Clones of antibody-forming cells in pokeweed mitogen-stimulated microcultures. I. Requirements for the induction of the antibody response of nude spleen cells

The effect of pokeweed mitogen (PWM) on the activation of precursor cells specific for sheep red cells (SRC) was studied in the microculture system. It was found that:

• 1 (a) PWM does not augment the response of nude spleen cells in the absence of T cells.
• 1 (b) When microcultures of nude spleen cells are supplemented with irradiated allogeneic spleen cells, the addition of PWM increases the number of precursor cells engaged in the anti-SRC response.
• 1 (c) Allogeneic supernatant produced in the presence of PWM is more active than that produced in the absence of PWM.