Abstract
There is a large body of evidence for the role of thymosin peptides in immunogenesis and immunity. In this paper we report on the influence of prothymosin alpha 1 (ProT-α a hormone-like peptide derived from the calf thymus, on humoral and cellular immune reactions in the rat. Young adult rats received intraperitoneal injections of ProT-α 1 in the periods before and after immunization with cellular and soluble antigens. ProT-αtreatment produced a dose-dependent increase of both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. The thymus weight increased but not that of spleen. Treatment of nonimmunized rats with this polypeptide significantly elevated the number of CD4+ and decreased the number of CD8+ cells in the peripheral blood. The results suggest a potent immunostimulatory activity of ProT-α 1 and imply direct action of this polypeptide on T lymphocytes.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 135-142 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | International Journal of Neuroscience |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 1-3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1991 |
Keywords
- Cell-mediated immune response
- Humoral immune response
- Immunomodulation
- Prothymosin-alpha 1
- Thymosin
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)