Augmented Passive Transfer of Contact Sensitivity in Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Mice and Its Dependence of Vβ8<sup>+</sup> Cells in the Picryl System

The passive transfer of contact sensitivity using picryl chloride immune cells from H-2 syngenic BALB/c donors was analyzed in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice which lack functional T and B lymphocytes. H-2-restricted and antigen-specific contact sensitivity was transferred to SCID mice, and comparison between the level of contact sensitivity and the number of transferred cells showed a significantly more efficient transfer to SCID than to BALB/c mice. The cells passively transferring contact sensitivity were shown to carry the Vβ8 phenotype. Moreover, chromium-labeled cells from BALB/c PC1-primed donors localize normally in peripheral lymphoid organs, and an increased percentag…