T cell-mediated cytotoxic immune responsiveness of chimeric mice bearing a thymus graft fully allogeneic to the graft of lymphoid stem cells

Fully allogeneic, chimeric mice were established by adult thymectomy of (A × B) F1animals, grafting parental A-type thymus under the kidney capsula, followed by lethal (900 rd) irradiation and reconstitution with B parental-type bone marrow cells treated with xenogeneic anti-T cell antiserum plus complement. Following in vivo sensitization with inactivated Sendai virus (SV) suspensions, no virus-specific T cells could be detected within the spleen cells of the mice. Upon stimulation with third-party allogeneic cells in a primary mixed lymphocyte culture, spleen cells of all animals generated alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). More interestingly, upon secondary in vitro stimulation …