Functional studies on MEL-14 + and MEL-14 − T cells in peripheral lymphoid tissues

Abstract

Functions of MEL-14 + T cells and MEL-14 − T cells in peripheral lymphoid tissues were analyzed and compared. The MEL-14 − T cells, representing a minor subpopulation of spleen and lymph node T cells, generated considerably higher mixed lymphocyte reaction and mitogen responses than the MEL-14 + T cells in any lymphoid tissues studied. Furthermore, upon stimulation with Con A the MEL-14 − CD8 + T cells produced significantly larger amounts of IL-2 and IFN-γ than MEL-14 + CD8 + T cells did. A similar but less marked observation was obtained with the CD4 + T cell population. Furthermore, when B10.BR mice were immunized with AKR (Mls-1 a) spleen cells, the proportion of the Mls-1 a reactive Vβ6 + T cells from draining lymph nodes increased and a substantial proportion of the increasing Vβ6 + T cells was shown to be MEL-14 −. The present findings on the whole indicate that MEL-14 − T cells in the peripheral lymphoid tissues are at functionally high levels and may represent memory cells which have been previously stimulated in vivo.