Antigen presentation by peritoneal macrophages from young adult and old mice

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1982 · Cell. Immunol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0008-8749(82)90128-9· OSTI ID:7068090

Perkins, E H; Massucci, J M; Glover, P L

Macrophages perform vital inductive and regulatory functions in immune processes and host defense mechanisms. However, macrophage function during senescence has not been extensively studied. Although antibody response is dramatically reduced in old animals, antigen presentation has never been directly assessed. Therefore, the antigen-presenting capabilities of purified peritoneal macrophages from young adult and old mice were studied by quantitatively measuring their ability to induce antigen specific proliferation of lymph node T lymphocytes. Increasing numbers of macrophages from nonimmunized young adult or aged animals were cultured in the presence of antigen with a constant number of column-separated popliteal lymph node cells from young adult mice. The latter had been immunized with the dinitrophenyl conjugate of bovine ..gamma..-globulin in complete Freund's adjuvant by footpad injection. Macrophages from old animals were equal to macrophages from young adult animals in stimulating T-lymphocyte proliferation, and the kinetics of incorporation was identical with increasing numbers of macrophages from either young adult or old animals. However, greater numbers of resident or induced peritoneal macrophages were always harvested from old animals. Differences in macrophage activity as assessed by different functional parameters may be reconciled by implicating sub-populations of macrophages that perform separate functions, e.g., Ia-positive antigen presenter and Ia-negative scavenger macrophages.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 7068090
• Journal Information: Cell. Immunol.; (United States), Vol. 70:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
IMMUNE REACTIONS
AGE DEPENDENCE
MACROPHAGES
BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS
ANTIGENS
CELL CULTURES
CELL PROLIFERATION
LYMPHOCYTES
MICE
PERITONEUM
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY FLUIDS
CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
FUNCTIONS
LEUKOCYTES
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
MEMBRANES
PHAGOCYTES
RODENTS
SEROUS MEMBRANES
SOMATIC CELLS
VERTEBRATES
551000* - Physiological Systems