FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITY OF SOLUBLE ANTIGEN-SPECIFIC HELPER T CELL MOLECULES Requirement For Seprable entities for The Induction of cytotoxic T Cell and B Cell Responses

Abstract

These studies constitute the first report of a comparison of the ability of a population of antigen-specific helper factors (ASHF) to induce cell-mediated and humoral immune responses. Supernatants of helper T lymphocyte (TH) cell lines, were purified by antigen-affinity chromatography and tested for their ability to induce cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses and IgM responses in vitro. The supernatant of a noncloned TH line was found to contain two functionally distinct types of ASHF that are separable by anion-exchange chromatography: one factor triggers CTL responses (ASHFCTL), the other triggers IgM B cell responses (ASHFB). Clone 4C6, derived from the parent line CHI, produces ASHFCTL but not ASHFB. These observations could result from two entirely distinct ASHF or from the association of common antigen-specific subunits with different antigen-nonspecific subunits to make ASHFCTL or ASHFB.