Restoration of the antibody response to sheep erythrocytes in thymectomized Xenopus implanted with MHC-compatible or MHC-incompatible thymus

These experiments make use of an amphibian model system for investigating the role of the thymus in T helper cell education. Clawed toads ( Xenopus laevis ), thymectomized at 7 days, are unable to mount an antibody response to thymus-dependent antigens, such as sheep red blood cells (SRBC). When thymectomized larvae are implanted with larval thymuses (either irradiated or non-irradiated), incompatible at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) or with MHC-compatible or -incompatible ‘adult’ thymuses, their splenic plaque-forming cell response and serum haemolytic antibody production to SRBC are both restored, to some extent. However, levels of mercaptoethanol-resistant antibody were extremely poor in those animals implanted with MHC-incompatible ‘adult’ thymus. Larval thymus implants were shown, by ploidy-labelling studies, to become repopulated with host-derived lymphocytes. Whether or not these lymphocytes acquire their MHC restriction specificities in the thymus awaits clarification.