C Horvath

The Pgp-1 glycoprotein was identified on a minor (27%) subset of peripheral Lyt-2+ or L3T4+ T cells. In contrast, mature medullary-type thymocytes (Lyt-2+ L3T4-, Lyt-2- L3T4+) were nearly devoid of cells expressing detectable surface Pgp-1. The appearance of peripheral Pgp-1- T cells was found to be thymus dependent, as demonstrated by the diminished proportion of Pgp-1- T cells after thymectomy and their virtual absence in athymic nude mice. The subsequent acquisition of surface Pgp-1 was found to be a stable differentiation event occurring concomitantly with primary antigenic stimulation; selected Pgp-1- mature T cells from thymus or periphery acquired constitutive expression of Pgp-1 after stimulation in vitro with alloantigen or mitogens. These observations were extended by studies in vivo showing that immunization with various antigens augmented the percentage of Pgp-1+ spleen cells within the Lyt-2+ subset. Furthermore, the frequencies of antigen-specific CTLp, after immunization by any of three different antigens tested, were greatly enriched in the Pgp-1+ compared with the Pgp-1- subpopulations. Peritoneal exudate Lyt-2+ cells, after a localized allograft rejection, demonstrated a particularly prominent Pgp-1+ subpopulation (78%) that contained virtually all the allospecific cytolytic activity. A model consistent with all of these data proposes that mature thymocytes lacking surface Pgp-1 upon emigration to the periphery acquire its expression at the time of primary antigenic stimulation. Hence, expression of Pgp-1 among peripheral T cells is an important differentiation marker for identifying antigen-stimulated memory T cells.

In an effort to derive monoclonal antibodies (mAb) which can induce production of macrophage-activating factor (MAF) by cloned murine cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) lines, we have fused spleen cells from a rat immunized with a CTL clone with the nonsecreting mouse myeloma X63-Ag8.653. Three mAb (designated I-22, III-5 and V-8) were found to stimulate MAF production by the immunizing CTL clone and (with a single exception) two other unrelated CTL clones. However, none of these mAb inhibited the cytolytic activity of the clones. Immunoprecipitation studies indicated that the three mAb reacted primarily with a 25-30-kDa protein which could not be distinguished from that precipitated by either a reference anti-Thy-1.2 mAb or a polyclonal rabbit anti-Thy-1 antiserum. Moreover, competition binding experiments demonstrated that the three mAb competed with each other and with the reference anti-Thy-1.2 mAb. Flow cytofluorometric analysis of the strain distribution of the molecules defined by the mAb revealed that two of the antibodies (I-22 and III-5) were directed against nonpolymorphic determinants of Thy-1, whereas V-8 mAb reacted only with Thy-1.2+ lymphocytes. One of the mAb (III-5) was also able to stimulate proliferation and interleukin 2 secretion by normal splenic T cells. Since mAb directed against a number of other surface structures on CTL clones did not stimulate MAF production, it thus appears that Thy-1 (or molecules associated with Thy-1) may play a functional role in T lymphocyte triggering.

The functional activity in vivo of murine tumor-specific cytolytic T lymphocyte populations and clones was studied. Tumor cell destruction induced after the i.v. injection of cytolytic effector cells was quantitated by monitoring the elimination of 131IUdR-labeled tumor cells in the peritoneal cavity by using whole-body counting techniques. Mixed leukocyte-tumor cell cultures were established by using spleen cells from C57BL/6 regressor mice that had rejected an intramuscular tumor induced by the injection of MSV-MoMuLV virus. This effector cell population was observed to eliminate syngeneic MoMuLV-induced tumor cells in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of the effector cell population with monoclonal anti-Lyt-2 antibodies plus complement totally abrogated their ability to induce tumor cell destruction in the peritoneal cavity. MSV-MoMuLV-specific Lyt-2+ cytolytic T cell clones derived by micro-manipulation of T lymphocyte-tumor cell conjugates were also tested for functional activity in vivo. Several clones induced a rapid, specific elimination of 131I-labeled MBL-2 tumor cells from the peritoneal cavity after i.v. injection, whereas others were inactive. Both active and inactive clones were highly cytolytic and secreted MAF/IFN-gamma lymphokines. In contrast to previous results obtained in a tumor allograft model, the MSV-MoMuLV-specific cytolytic T cell clones that were active in vivo did not proliferate in vitro in response to stimulation with irradiated tumor cells plus filler spleen cells in the absence of an added source of interleukin 2.

The in vivo activity of murine cytolytic T lymphocyte-containing effector cell populations generated in vitro was studied in a tumor allograft model system by monitoring the elimination of 131I-IUdR-labeled tumor cells with whole-body counting techniques. Mice were irradiated sublethally and 16 hr later 131I-labeled tumor cells were injected either subcutaneously or i.p. Simultaneously, graded doses of various effector cell populations were injected i.v. and the mice were counted daily to assess the potential elimination of the radiolabeled tumor cells. Thus, allogeneic 2 degrees mixed leukocyte culture cells were observed to eliminate allogeneic but not syngeneic tumor cells in a dose-dependent manner, with as few as 0.2 x 10(6) effector cells causing significant destruction of 2 x 10(6) allogeneic tumor cells. The protective effect of the mixed leukocyte culture cells was considerably reduced when Lyt-2+-bearing lymphocytes were eliminated by treatment with monoclonal antibody plus complement. In additional experiments, Lyt-2+ lymphocytes positively selected by enrichment on antibody-coated petri dishes gave efficient protection, in the absence of Lyt-2- cells. Surprisingly, when several different cloned, specific, long-term allogeneic cytolytic T cells lines were injected either i.p. of i.v., tumor cell destruction was observed only after i.p. injection.