SUMMARYTransfer of 2 2 10 5 congenic or semiallogenic purified TCR®¯ CD4 T cells to SCID mice leads to an infiltration of the recipient gut lamina propria and epithelium with a donor-derived CD4T cell subset which induces a lethal inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the recipients. In contrast, IBD was not observed in SCID mice transplanted with unfractionated splenic cells. The earliest detectable pathological changes after CD4T cell transfer were proliferation and hypertrophy of the entire colonic epithelial layer, including increased mitotic activity, increased expression of epithelial nuclear proliferation antigen, and elongation of the crypts. Later on, massive mononuclear cell infiltration, hypertrophy of all layers of the colon and occasional epithelial ulcerations were observed. At this stage, accumulations of IgA, IgM and small numbers of IgG1-, IgG2-and IgG3-secreting plasma cells were present in the lamina propria of both the small and large intestine. We conclude that low numbers of intraveneously transferred CD4T cells induce IBD in SCID mice. In the late stages of CD4 T cellinduced IBD, the colonic lamina propria becomes infiltrated with macrophages, neutrophils and plasma cells secreting IgA, IgM, and to a lesser degree IgG antibodies which might play an accessory role in the pathogenesis of IBD.

Scid mice transplanted with low numbers of syngeneic CD4+ T cells, develop a chronic and lethal inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) within 4-6 months. We have used in vivo 5-bromo2-deoxy-uridine (BrdU) labeling to assess the proliferation of lamina propria-derived CD4+ T cells in diseased scid mice. The hourly rate of renewal of colonic lamina propria CD4+ T cells in diseased mice was 7% compared with 1.5% in normal BALB/c control mice. Transplantation of scid mice with in vitro activated CD4+ T cells accelerated the disease onset and development in a cell dose-dependent fashion when compared with non-activated CD4+ T cells. In pulse-chase experiments it was shown that BrdU-labeled cells disappeared rapidly from the lamina propria of diseased mice. DNA analysis revealed that this was due to the presence of nearly four times as many apoptotic CD4+ T cells in diseased than in control mice. Further analyses showed that the apoptotic lamina propria CD4+ T cells were derived from cells having entered the cell cycle within the previous 8 h. These data clearly demonstrate that vigorous CD4+ T cell proliferation and death are involved throughout the course of IBD.

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Lymphoid cells from beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) knockout mice transgenic for human (h) beta 2m (C57BL/10 m beta 2m-/h beta 2m+) were compared with normal mice for their binding to exogenously added h beta 2m, binding to a H-2Db peptide and for functional activity in a one-way allogenic MLC. Based on data from cellular binding studies, Scatchard analyses and flow cytometry, it is concluded that exogenous h beta 2m does not bind to hybrid MHC class I (MHC-I) molecules composed of mouse heavy chain/h beta 2m molecules expressed on lymphocytes of transgenic mice. Immunoprecipitation and SDS-PAGE analysis of metabolically labelled normal C57BL/6 lymph node cells showed binding of exogenous h beta 2m to MHC-I, in particular, to the H-2Db molecule through an exchange with endogenous mouse beta 2m. In contrast to normal H-2Db molecules, hybrid H-2Db expressed on the surface of transgenic lymphocytes binds radiolabelled peptide in the absence of exogenous added h beta 2m suggesting that a stable fraction of hybrid H-2Db molecules is empty or contain peptides with very low affinity. In a one-way allogenic mixed lymphocyte culture, transgenic splenocytes were found to be far less stimulatory than normal splenocytes. In contrast, transgenic alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes developed earlier in MLC than their non-transgenic counterparts. These data indicate that the hybrid mouse heavy chain/h beta 2m complex alters the alloantigenic repertoire and influences important aspects of T-cell activation.

The ultrastructure of human lymphocytes incubated with isoantibody + complement was studied. The changes observed were correlated to the results of the lymphocytotoxic dye‐exclusion test performed at various intervals during the incubation period. Parallels could be drawn between the degree of decay as assessed by electron‐microscopic studies and the dye‐exclusion test. Increase in cytoplasmic ribosomes, shortening of microvilli, mitochondrial lesions, and condensation of chromatin were early signs of cellular decay. Pyknosis and hydropic swelling of the nucleus as well as degenerative changes in the different organelles indicate severe cell injury. Furthermore, 100 to 300 A cell‐membrane perforations and enormous widening of the nuclear pores were found in damaged cells. Dark bodies, probably originating from degenerating mitochondria, appeared in the cytoplasm, especially in the vicinity of the plasma membrane. All the degeneration phenomena observed were also found in the control groups. Thus, the changes cannot be considered specific for antibody‐induced damage. Similar changes may occur during the normal process of aging, and it is possible that exposure to antibody + complement accelerates this process.