Abstract
Circulating lymphocytes of plasmacytoma-carrying BALB/c mice were found to lose their normal surface immunoglobulins; in their place surface structures characteristic of the specific plasmacytoma globulin were demonstrated by the immunocytoadhesion technique. These changes were experimentally reproduced by the incubation of normal BALB/c lymphocytes with an RNA preparation obtained by hot phenol extraction from the excised plasmacytomas. RNA treated by RNAse was inactive, while DNAse or trypsin had no inactivating effect. Lymphocytes, killed with heat or KCN, underwent no alteration of surface receptors following incubation with the tumor RNA. Plasmacytoma RNA, injected intraperitoneally into normal mice, also altered the reactivity of circulating lymphocytes. These observations suggest the possibility that this effect contributes to the functional impairment of the immune system in this disease.
