REGULATION OF ANTIBODY-RESPONSE IN DIFFERENT IMMUNOGLOBULIN CLASSES .5. ESTABLISHMENT OF T-HYBRID CELL LINE SECRETING IGE CLASS-SPECIFIC SUPPRESSOR FACTOR

Abstract

Establishment of a mouse T [thymus-derived] hybrid cell line secreting suppressor factor(s) specific for the Ig[immunoglobulin]E antibody response was described. Fusion was made with polyethyleneglycol between AKR-derived T lymphoma cells (BW5147) and T cells from mice sensitized with DNP-Mycobacterium. Treatment of spleen cells with nondialyzable factor(s) in the culture supernatants of the T cell hybrid clone 26-M10 showed a suppressive effect on IgE formation but not on IgG formation in adoptive transfer experiments. The suppressive effect was exerted through inactivation of normal or antigen[Ag]-primed B [bone marrow-derived] cells responsible for IgE formation. A direct cytotoxic test revealed that the hybrid cells expressed H-2 and Thy-1 Ag derived from both parental cells on their surface. Karyotype analysis of the hybrid cells revealed that the number of chromosomes was less than the sum of the 2 parental cells and the average was 50 (45-55). Although the 26-M10 hybrid cells lost the ability to secrete active suppressive factor(s) into culture medium 21 wk after hybridization when the number of chromosomes in most of the cells was less than 41, recloning of the 26-M10 cells successfully recovered active suppressive clones.