ACTIVATION OF T AND B LYMPHOCYTES IN VITRO

Abstract

The studies presented herein have focused on the biological and biochemical properties of a nonspecific mediator produced by populations of activated T lymphocytes during short-term in vitro reactions with foreign alloantigens. We have analyzed the activity of the unseparated and of chromatographically separated fractions of the supernatants from such cultures on the in vitro responses of mouse lymphocytes to soluble and macrophage-bound DNP-carrier conjugates and also to particulate heterologous erythrocytes. The results demonstrate that a highly active protein moiety, termed allogeneic effect factors (AEF), in the mol wt range of 30,000–40,000, is capable of acting directly on B lymphocytes, in the presence of antigen, probably to effect triggering and subsequent differentiation and proliferation to antibody-forming cells in vitro. The active molecule, although not manifesting specificity for antigen, does exhibit some strain-specific properties suggesting a possible relationship to cell surface antigens or other gene products coded in the major histocompatibility gene complex.