Primary T-cell responses to minor alloantigens I. CHARACTERIZATION OF CYTOTOXIC EFFECTOR CELLS GENERATED FROM REGIONAL LYMPH NODES AFTER IMMUNIZATION IN THE FOOTPAD.

A system is described which involves an in-vivo and an in-vitro step for the generation of strong primary cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses to multiple minor alloantigens. The protocol consists of immunizing mice in the footpad with irradiated, minor alloantigen-different spleen cells. Four days later, cells from the lymph nodes draining the site of injection are cultured for 3 days in the absence of antigen to allow the development of cytotoxic activity. The analysis of the effector phase of the response indicates that the killer cells are H-2 restricted cytotoxic cells specific for minor alloantigens. The in-vitro phase of these cytotoxic responses is I cell-dependent and the responder cells proliferate strongly during the culture period. Both cytotoxic and proliferative responses are abolished by passing responder cells over Sephadex G-10 prior to culture. The results suggest that the maturation process of CTL-precursor (CTL-P) cells into effector CTL in vitro depends upon proliferating T cells and accessory cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]