Antigen presentation by macrophages from adult thymectomised mice

Recent claims that macrophages from adult thymectomised mice fail to mature to a stage where they can 'present' antigen were examined. Comparisons were made between the capacity of antigen-pulsed peritoneal exudate macrophages from adult thymectomised and normal mice to elicit both primary and secondary lymphoproliferative responses in vitro, and to prime lymph node cells for antigen-specific recruitment in vivo. Macrophages from thymectomised donors were partially deficient in their capacity to activate naive or immune T-cells in vitro but were nevertheless capable of emitting a significant immunogenic signal. These results suggest partial, but not absolute T-cell regulation of the immunogenic function(s) of exudate macrophage populations.