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Transcript
1962 Initiation of Immune Responses by Small Lymphocytes J. L. GOWANS, D. D. MCGREGOR, D. M. COWEN, AND C. E. FORD B efore the discoveries of Sir James L. Gowans, the small lymphocyte was a cell without a function. Small lymphocytes could be enumerated: Winston Churchill, on seeing a lymphocyte count in his hospital chart, is reported to have asked, “What are these small lymphocytes?” “We don’t know, Prime Minister,” his physician replied. “Then why do you count them?” That was the state of knowledge until the studies of Gowans. Gowans became interested in the behavior of lymphocytes because of their dynamic characteristics; the thoracic duct, which he could cannulate, produced enough small lymphocytes in a day to create a hefty dose of cells, but their function was unknown. It was Gowans who figured out that these small, featureless cells could mount both cellular and humoral immune responses to specific antigens. That is, they were the units of selection in Burnet’s theory of clonal selection. Since Gowans’ paper was published, the number of papers containing the word “lymphocyte” has doubled annually for many years, leading to the present-day understanding of adaptive immunity based on the clonal selection of small, resting lymphocytes. It is difficult to imagine that any other paper could have such enormous impact. CHARLES JANEWAY Reprinted by permission from Nature 196:651–655. Copyright © 1962. Macmillan Magazines Ltd. 140 Microbiology: A Centenary Perspective Pathogenesis and Host Response Mechanisms 141 142 Microbiology: A Centenary Perspective Pathogenesis and Host Response Mechanisms 143 144 Microbiology: A Centenary Perspective Pathogenesis and Host Response Mechanisms 145