Immune responses of two Mastomys sibling species to Yersinia pestis

This study assessed the in vitro cell-mediated immune responses of Mastomys natalensis, with a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 32, and Mastomys coucha, with a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 36, to Yersinia pestis. Splenic mononuclear (MN) cells of uninfected M. natalensis proliferated in response to crude fraction 1 of Y. pestis and two subfractions derived from fraction 1 in vitro. Proliferation was dose dependent and followed the time kinetics of other well-known mitogens. Further characterization of the two fractions revealed similar protein profiles in sodium dodecyl sulfide-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and indicated a heat-stable protein of 25 kDa responsible for the mitogenic activity. No such response was observed with MN cells from M. coucha. The unresponsiveness of M. coucha-derived MN cells appears to be related to an inability to respond to Y. pestis organisms. The results may help explain the relative resistance and susceptibility of M. natalensis and M. coucha to Y. pestis infection.