Immunologic functions of isolated human lymphocyte subpopulations. III. Specific allogeneic lympholysis mediated by human T cells alone
Sondel, P.M.; Chess, L.; MacDermott, R.P.; Schlossman, S.F.
Journal of Immunology 114(3): 982-987
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-1767 PMID: 122993 Document Number: 93822
The studies presented herein have evaluated both the specificity and cellular basis of cell-mediated lympholysis (CML) in man. An efficient and quantitative 51Cr release assay was utilized to study the role of highly purified human T and B cells in CML. After in vitro sensitization human T cells develop the capacity to kill specifically allogeneic cells to which they were sensitized. In contrast, B cells were neither triggered to proliferate nor activated to kill allogeneic targets. B cells were not activated to kill even when sensitized in the presence of potentially "helper" T cells, nor did they block T cells from killing during the effector phase. Cell-free supernatants taken from active in vitro sensitization cultures were not lympholytic and did not modulate T cell killing. Hence, these studies show that both the afferent and efferent phases of human CML are T cell functions.