Characteristics of nylon fiber adherence-separated chicken splenocytes

Separation of chicken splenocytes by nylon fiber adherence yielded two distinct subpopulations. The non-adherent cells responded well to T cell mitogens, while the recoverable adherent cells did not. The non-adherent subpopulation showed a marked decrease in the number of surface immunoglobulin-bearing cells as compared to the adherent population. Cell diameter distribution was skewed toward larger sizes in the adherent subpopulation, and smaller sizes in the non-adherent subpopulation. There was no significant difference between the groups, however, in the number of cells which bore Fc receptors, stained for non-specific esterase, or actively phagocytosed. Therefore, the non-adherent subpopulation appeared to be enriched for T cells, the adherent subpopulation for B cells, and neither group for macrophages.