Lymphokine production by encephalitogenic and non-encephalitogenic T-cell clones reactive to the same antigenic determinant

Among the myelin basic protein (MBP)-specific T-cell clones mediating experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), which were established from SJL/J mice, one clone was found to have lost its encephalitogenicity during long-term passages in vitro, altoough the clone keeps its specific reactivity to the encephalitogenic determinant lying in the sequence of guinea pig MBP 89–101. To clarify the difference between the encephalitogenic T-cell clone (4b.14a) and non-encephalitogenic T-cell clone (4b.14a/n), we examined various lymphokines secreted into the culture media of 4b.14a and 4b.14a/n. The results show that the activities of lymphotoxin, interferon-γ or interleukin-2 were not different between encephalitogenic clones and 4b.14a/n, whereas the activity of tumor necrosis factor-α, possibly secreted from antigen-presenting cells, was higher in culture media of 4b.14a/n. Moreover, the culture fluid of both 4b.14a/n and 4b.14a revealed suppressive effect on the proliferation of 4b.14a stimulated by MBP 89–101, but the effect was not different between the two clones. Thus, it is suggested that neither production of lymphokines examined so far nor soluble suppressive substance is related to the loss of encephalitogenicity of the T-cell clone.