The mode of recognition of tumor antigens by noncytolytic-type antitumor T cells: Role of antigen-presenting cells and their surface class I and class II H-2 molecules

✍ Scribed by Kohichi Sakamoto; Hiroto Nakajima; Jun Shimizu; Tatsuo Katagiri; Chiharu Kiyotaki; Hiromi Fujiwara; Toshiyuki Hamaoka

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 660 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0340-7004
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00205449

✦ Synopsis

The present study investigated the role of antigen-presenting cells (APC) in the activation of noncytolytic T cells against tumor antigens. The noncytolytic-type T cells exerted their antitumor effect by producing gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) and by activating macrophages as the ultimate effectors. The production of IFN-gamma by these noncytolytic T cells following the stimulation with tumor cells required the participation of Ia+ APC, since the depletion of APC from cultures of tumor-immunized spleen cells resulted in almost complete inhibition of the IFN-gamma production. Both L3T4+ and Lyt-2+ subsets of T cells were capable of producing IFN-gamma, and the requirement of APC for the production of IFN-gamma was the case irrespective of whether noncytolytic T cells were of L3T4+ or Lyt-2+ phenotype. More importantly, it was demonstrated that the production of IFN-gamma by L3T4+ and Lyt-2+ T cells was inhibited by addition of the respective anti-class II and anti-class I H-2 antibody to cultures. These results indicate that antitumor L3T4+ or Lyt-2+ noncytolytic T cells are activated for the IFN-gamma production by recognizing tumor antigens in the context of self-class II or -class I H-2 molecules on APC.