FUNCTION OF MACROPHAGES IN ANTIGEN RECOGNITION BY GUINEA PIG T LYMPHOCYTES

作者：Ethan M. Shevach, Alan S. Rosenthal · 发表于：The Journal of Experimental Medicine · 年份：1973 · DOI：10.1084/jem.138.5.1213 · 被引用次数：605 · 研究领域：Immune Response and Inflammation、Immune Cell Function and Interaction、Immunotherapy and Immune Responses

A number of recent studies have suggested that the main functional role of the product of the immune response (Ir) genes is in the process of antigen recognition by the T lymphocyte. The observation in the accompanying report that the interaction of macrophage-associated antigen with immune T lymphocytes requires that both cells share histocompatibility antigens raised the question as to whether the macrophage played a role in the genetic control of the immune response or even if the macrophage were the primary cell in which the product of the Ir gene is expressed. In the current study, parental macrophages were pulsed with an antigen, the response to which is controlled by an Ir gene lacking in that parent; these macrophages were then mixed with T cells derived from the (nonresponder x responder)F(1) and the resultant stimulation was measured. No stimulation was seen when column-purified F(1) lymph node lymphocytes were mixed with antigen-pulsed macrophages from the nonresponder parent. However, when the highly reactive peritoneal exudate lymphocyte population was used as the indicator cells, parental macrophages pulsed with an antigen whose Ir gene they lacked were capable of initiating F(1) T-cell proliferation. The magnitude of stimulation was approximately 1/10 that seen when macrophages from either the responder parent or the F(1) were used. In order to explain this observation, we hypothesize that antigen recognition sites on the T lymphocyte are physically related to ...