Cooper briefly returned to Tulane as an instructor, then moved to the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota in 1963 to as a medical fellow and instructor, working with Robert A. Good and conducting research. He became an assistant professor in 1966.
Inspired by a report that the bursa of Fabricius (or the bursa) in chickens may be responsible for producing antibodies,[19] he conducted experiments in 1964 on chickens to determine the roles of the thymus and the bursa.[20] He removed the thymus or the bursa from chicks and irradiated them with X-ray to kill lymphocytes that may have been produced earlier by the thymus and bursa.[21]
The experiments showed irradiated chicks with the bursa removed did not have plasma cells, antibodies, and germinal centers, despite their intact thymus. Conversely, irradiated chickens with the thymus removed had low lymphocyte levels, but had normal antibodies, plasma cells, and germinal centers.[22][23] The lymphocytes produced by the bursa are known as B cells.[24]
Again working on chickens, Cooper also made a contribution to deducing how B cells produce different types of antibodies at different stages of embryonic development, in the sequence of IgM, IgG, and IgA.[25] His experiments indicated a single lineage of B cells switch from IgM to producing other immunoglobulinisotypes, as opposed to multiple B cell subtypes each producing one immunoglobulin isotype.[26] This process is known as immunoglobulin class switching.
Collaborating with John Owen from the UK, Cooper used a series of experiments to determine the mammalian organ equivalent to the bursa and found that B cells are produced in the liver of fetalmice.[27] Together with independent reports by Pierre Vassalli[28] and Gustav Nossal[29] in 1974 that B cells were produced in the bone marrow of fetal mice, these discoveries show haematopoietictissues generate B cells in mammals.[30]
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^ abIoachimescu, Octavian C.; Cooper, Max D. (2022). "An extraordinary story of discovery: an interview with Doctor Max D Cooper". Journal of Investigative Medicine. 70 (7): 1461–1465. doi:10.1136/jim-2022-002505. PMC9554051. PMID 35820715. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
^"History of the College". Holmes Community College. April 6, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
^ abcdef"Curriculum vitae: Max Dale Cooper" (PDF). Robert Koch Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
^Cardon, Dustin (January 11, 2019). "Max Cooper". Jackson Free Press. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
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^Miller, J. F. A. P. (1961). "Immunological function of the thymus". The Lancet. 278 (7205): 748–749. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(61)90693-6. PMID 14474038. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
^Glick, Bruce; Chang, Timothy S.; Jaap, R. George (1956). "The Bursa of Fabricius and Antibody Production". Poultry Science. 35 (1): 224–225. doi:10.3382/ps.0350224. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
^"Laudatio for Prof. Dr. Max Dale Cooper" (PDF). Robert Koch Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
^Ribatti, Domenico (2014). "Max D. Cooper and the delineation of two lymphoid lineages in the adaptive immune system". Immunology Letters. 162 (1(A)): 233–236. doi:10.1016/j.imlet.2014.09.005. PMID 25236938. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
^Cooper, Max D.; Peterson, Raymond D. A.; Good, Robert A. (1965). "Delineation of the Thymic and Bursal Lymphoid Systems in the Chicken" (PDF). Nature. 205 (4967): 143–146. Bibcode:1965Natur.205..143C. doi:10.1038/205143a0. PMID 14276257. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
^Cooper, Max D.; Peterson, Raymond D. A.; South, Mary Ann; Good, Robert A. (1966). "The Functions of the Thymus System and the Bursa System in the Chicken" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Medicine. 123 (1): 75–102. doi:10.1084/jem.123.1.75. PMC2138128. PMID 5323079. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
^"2018 Japan Prize Achievement - "Medical Science and Medicinal Science" field" (PDF). Japan Prize. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
^Cooper, Max D. (2010). "A Life of Adventure in Immunobiology". Annual Review of Immunology. 28: 1–19. doi:10.1146/annurev-immunol-030409-101248. PMID 19968560.
^Kincade, Paul W.; Lawton, Alexander R.; Bockman, Dale E.; Cooper, Max D. (1970). "Suppression of Immunoglobulin G Synthesis as a Result of Antibody-Mediated Suppression of Immunoglobulin M Synthesis in Chickens". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 67 (4): 1918–1925. Bibcode:1970PNAS...67.1918K. doi:10.1073/pnas.67.4.1918. PMC283448. PMID 5275387.
^Owen, John J. T.; Cooper, Max D.; Raff, Martin C. (1974). "In vitro generation of B lymphocytes in mouse foetal liver, a mammalian 'bursa equivalent'". Nature. 249 (455): 361–363. Bibcode:1974Natur.249..361O. doi:10.1038/249361a0. PMID 4546257. S2CID 4296027. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
^Ryser, Jean-Etienne; Vassalli, Pierre (1974). "Mouse Bone Marrow Lymphocytes and Their Differentiation" (PDF). Journal of Immunology. 113 (3): 719–728. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.113.3.719. PMID 4213258. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
^Osmond, D. G.; Nossal, G. J. V. (1974). "Differentiation of lymphocytes in mouse bone marrow: II. Kinetics of maturation and renewal of antiglobulin-binding cells studied by double labeling". Cellular Immunology. 13 (1): 132–145. doi:10.1016/0008-8749(74)90233-0. PMID 4141645. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
^Gitlin, Alexander D.; Nussenzweig, Michel C. (2015). "Immunology: Fifty years of B lymphocytes". Nature. 517 (7533): 139–141. Bibcode:2015Natur.517..139G. doi:10.1038/517139a. PMID 25567266.
^Mayer, Werner E.; Uinuk-ool, Tatiana; Tichy, Herbert; Gartland, Lanier A.; Klein, Jan; Cooper, Max D. (2002). "Isolation and characterization of lymphocyte-like cells from a lamprey". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 29 (99): 14350–14355. Bibcode:2002PNAS...9914350M. doi:10.1073/pnas.212527499. PMC137887. PMID 12388781.
^Uinuk-ool, Tatiana; Mayer, Werner E.; Sato, Akie; Dongak, Roman; Cooper, Max D.; Klein, Jan (2002). "Lamprey lymphocyte-like cells express homologs of genes involved in immunologically relevant activities of mammalian lymphocytes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 99 (22): 14356–14361. Bibcode:2002PNAS...9914356U. doi:10.1073/pnas.212527699. PMC137888. PMID 12391333.
^Pancer, Zeev; Amemiya, Chris T.; Ehrhardt, Götz R. A.; Ceitlin, Jill; Gartland, G. Larry; Cooper, Max D. (2004). "Somatic diversification of variable lymphocyte receptors in the agnathan sea lamprey". Nature. 430 (6996): 174–180. Bibcode:2004Natur.430..174P. doi:10.1038/nature02740. hdl:2027.42/62870. PMID 15241406. S2CID 876413. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
^Cooper, Max D.; Alder, Matthew N. (2006). "The Evolution of Adaptive Immune Systems". Cell. 124 (4): 815–822. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2006.02.001. PMID 16497590.
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