Comparison of mitogenic responses of young and old rhesus monkey T cells to lectins and interleukins 2 and 4.

Purified T cells from rhesus monkeys, like human T cells, do not show a significant mitogenic response to lectins or PMA, but when combined with PMA or accessory cells, PHA and Con A induce a vigorous mitogenic response. This response is strongly impaired in purified T cells from old rhesus monkeys compared to young T cells, from 56 to 72%, and parallels results obtained with T cell preparations containing accessory cells. Likewise, purified T cells do not respond to interleukin 2 (IL-2) or IL-4, but in the presence of PMA, a significant mitogenic response occurs in the young but not the old T cells. This response is augmented by accessory cells, but is still very deficient in the old T cells. These results show that the IL-2 independent activation of T cells triggered by IL-4, like the conventional IL-2 activation, is age impaired. The deficient response to IL-2 implies an age-related deficiency in IL-2 receptor as well in aged rhesus T cells, and may account for the less effective response of the old cells to calcium ionophore (+PMA) activation. The use of purified T cells in these studies obviate the influence of accessory cells, and thus simplify interpretation.