AUTOSENSITIZATION REACTION IN VITRO : CONTACTUAL AGGLUTINATION OF SENSITIZED LYMPH NODE CELLS IN BRAIN TISSUE CULTURE ACCOMPANIED BY DESTRUCTION OF GLIAL ELEMENTS

Lymph node cells were obtained from an inbred strain of Lewis rats injected with guinea pig cord tissue in Freund's adjuvant. These cells, when added to tissue culture monolayers of puppy brain, aggregated on or around the glial elements. This reaction, called contactual agglutination, was followed by the specific destruction of glial cells, leaving cultures consisting only of fibroblasts. No such reaction was noted when lymph node cells obtained either from normal rats or those injected with adjuvant alone were used. Absorption of serum obtained from rats injected with guinea pig cord tissue by non-sensitized lymph node cells made them reactive in brain tissue culture. The contactual agglutination test seems to provide an opportunity for investigation of sensitization reaction in tissue culture systems.