Enumeration of activated thymus-derived lymphocytes by the virus plaque assay

Lymphocytes activated by antigens or mitogens acquire the capacity to replicate viruses, and the number of activated lymphocytes can be estimated by the virus plaque assay. Concanavalin A and pokeweed mitogen produced 33-fold and 17-fold increases in virus plaqueforming cells (V-PFC), respectively, above background, while lipopolysaccharide produced only a 2- to 3-fold increase. T (thymus-derived lymphocyte)-depleted lymphocyte populations, derived from anti-theta-treated or nude (arthymic) mouse spleens, failed to produce V-PFC after culture with concanavalin A or pokeweed mitogen. The present studies thus demonstrate that the virus plaque assay measures activated T-lymphocytes.A dissociation between the V-PFC response and cell proliferation was previously observed in antigen-stimulated cells cultured in the presence of mitotic inhibitors. In the present studies, while stimulation of CBA (H2(k)) lymphocytes by DBA/2 (H2(d)) cells produced high levels of thymidine incorporation, lymphocyte target-cell cytotoxicity, and V-PFC, stimulation of BALB/c (H2(d)) lymphocytes against DBA/2 (H2(d)) cells resulted in even higher levels of thymidine incorporation with a virtual absence of cytotoxic lymphocytes or V-PFC. These results indicate that proliferation is not a sufficient condition for permitting lymphocytes either to exert cytotoxicity on target cells or to replicate viruses, and suggest that there may be a correlation between the development of V-PFC and cytotoxic lymphocytes. They are consistent with the view that there are at least two functional subpopulations of T-lymphocytes.