The significance of varying SRBC/lymphocyte ratio in T cell rosette formation

The incubation ratio of sheep red blood cells (SRBC) to lymphocytes is a critical factor in rosette formation, whereas the length of time SRBC and lymphocytes are incubated together does not significantly affect the percentage of lymphocytes forming rosettes. The graph obtained by plotting percentage of rosette formation against the ratio of SRBC to lymphocytes is similar to that resulting from the formation of bimolecular complexes. If rosette formation is analogous to formation of bimolecular complexes, maximal rosette formation occurs when the system is saturated, i.e., with excess SRBC, and is a measure of the total capacity of a lymphocyte population to form rosettes. In addition, the percentage of rosette formation observed at a limiting SRBC/lymphocyte ratio gives an indication of the avidity of the lymphocytes for SRBC. This interpretation may provide an explanation for the difference between the 'active' and 'total' rosettes. When the log of the SRBC/lymphocyte ratio is plotted against percentage of rosette formation, a straight line is obtained, suggesting that within a given normal lymphocyte sample, T cell subsets with different avidities are not detected by rosette formation at different SRBC/lymphocyte ratios.