Essential Duration of Parabiosis and Development of Tolerance to Skin Homografts in Mice. ∗

Abstract

Summary

1. Parabiosis between Z animals and AZ F₁ hybrid animals results in immunological tolerance of the former strain to the latter.

2. When parabiotic union between Z and AZ F₁ animals is maintained less than 30 days a tolerant state is not regularly produced, but when maintained 30 days or more, tolerance of Z for AZ F₁ hybrid skin grafts is the rule.

3. Tolerance between Z and Ce strain mice may be produced in adult life by maintenance of a parabiotic union between members of these 2 strains.

4. Under these circumstances Z mice more readily become tolerant to the strain of the parabiotic partner than do Ce strain mice.

5. Implications of these findings to the theory of immunological tolerance are discussed.