Vδ5+ T cells of BALB/c mice recognize the murine heat shock protein 60 target cell specificity.

The purpose of this paper was to study the γδ T-cell receptor repertoire and target specificity following stimulation of peripheral T cells of BALB/c mice with autologous or bacterial ligands. The expression of Vγ and Vδ chain families in T cells that had been expanded by stimulation in syngeneic mixed lymphocyte culture or with purified protein derivative (PPD) was determined by the semiquantitative DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Responder T cells to either of these stimuli strongly expressed both Vδ5 and Vδ6 genes. However, addition of the ML 30 anti-murine heat shock protein (hsp) 60 monoclonal antibody (mAb) to the cell culture selectively inhibited only the expansion of Vδ5 T cells. A Vδ5 T-cell hybridoma (KMT-5), which recognized syngeneic splenic and fibrosarcoma Meth A cells but not allogeneic cells, was produced by cell fusion from autoreactive blast cells. Incubation of the KMT-5 hybridoma in the presence of ML 30 antibody blocked the stimulation of interleukin-2 (IL-2) secretion by syngeneic target cells. It was also found that the DNA of KMT-5 hybridoma and of the autoreactive γδ T cells contained the BALB/c invariant delta (BID) chain sequence. It is concluded from these results that BALB/c peripheral Vδ5 T cells recognize an autologous hsp 60 target specificity in a Vδgene restricted manner. We also propose that T cells of this V gene family may be involved in the immune surveillance of certain tumours and intracellular infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]