The effects of passive anti-viral immunotherapy in AKR mice: II. Susceptibility to B cell lymphomagenesis.

Prevention of high frequency spontaneous T cell lymphoma development in AKR mice by mAb 18-5 treatment was shown to involve inhibition of the recombinant Class I MCF virus formation and elimination of the early occurring potential lymphoma cells (PLCs). A low B cell lymphoma incidence (16% at a mean latency of 540 days) and a low level of PLCs (yielding 12% B cell lymphoma development following lymphoid cell transfer) was observed in mAb 18-5 treated mice (in contrast to a high PLC level in thymectomized AKR mice that could be experimentally triggered to progress to overt CD5+ B cell lymphomas). Administration of anti CD8 mAb or IL-4 to 12-month-old mAb 18-5 pre-treated mice only slightly increased B cell lymphoma incidence (up to 30-40%). Exposure to split-dose irradiation resulted in 26% B cell lymphomas at a 250 day mean latency. The phenotypes of the B lymphomas developing in mAb 18-5 treated mice were: B220+ (14.8+, 6B2+), 6C3+, Mac2+, CD5-. Most lymphomas expressed l-a and surface IgM, pointing to their mature B cell characteristics. Moreover, in some of the lymphomas, high levels of IgM production and secretion were determined. A comparison of the morphological characteristics (based on light and ultrastructure microscopy) of CD5+ and CD5- B cell lymphomas developing in AKR mice indicated marked differences. Analysis of the IgH locus of representative CD5- B lymphomas showed an identical pattern of IgH rearrangement in some tumors (similar to previous findings among CD5+ lymphomas). The virological analysis of the CD5- B cell lymphomas (similar to those observed in the CD5+ B cell lymphomas of AKR origin) showed that their development did not require formation of the pathogenic MCF recombinant viruses. The differences observed between the CD5+ and CD5- B cell lymphomas developing in AKR mice (following prevention of spontaneous T cell lymphomagenesis) may be due to their origin of different B cell precursors or from B cells at different levels of differentiation.

An immunodominant Kb-restricted peptide from the p15E transmembrane protein of endogenous ecotropic murine leukemia virus (MuLV) AKR623 that restores susceptibility of a tumor line to anti-AKR/Gross MuLV cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

H-2b tumor cells expressing the endogenous ecotropic murine leukemia virus (EMV) induce an anti-AKR/Gross murine leukemia virus (MuLV) cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response in the C57BL/6 mouse strain. The EMV clone AKR623 has been used to infect SC.Kb fibroblast cells, resulting in SC.Kb/623 targets that are lysed by bulk anti-AKR/Gross MuLV CTL with a profile that is similar to that for the EMV+ AKR.H-2b SL1 tumor target. Anti-AKR/Gross MuLV CTL are restricted by the class I Kb antigen and do not cross-react with Friend-Moloney-Rauscher virus-positive targets. The AKR623 genome was searched by computer for coding sequences that fit the motif XXXX(FY)XX(VIML) for peptides that bind Kb. Of 30 octameric peptides identified, 12 that were unique to AKR623 and different from published Friend-Moloney-Rauscher sequences were synthesized and bound to EMV-negative SC.Kb cells, which were then assayed as targets against anti-AKR/Gross MuLV CTL. One peptide, peptide 12 (KSPWFTTL) from the p15E transmembrane protein, sensitized SC.Kb target cells to lysis by anti-AKR/Gross MuLV CTL with a profile similar to those seen for AKR.H-2b SL1 tumor targets and SC.Kb/623 fibroblast targets. Low concentrations of peptide were sufficient, the half-maximal lysis occurring at 10 to 100 pg/ml. SC.Kb/peptide 12 targets were recognized by the H-2b-restricted bulk CTL in a conventional class I Kb-restricted fashion. Unlabeled SC.Kb/peptide 12-pulsed targets were effective in competing with radiolabeled SC.Kb/623 targets for lysis by anti-AKR/Gross MuLV CTL. This finding is consistent with the notion that peptide 12 represents the dominant endogenously processed epitope recognized by these antiviral CTL. In addition, peptide 12 is immunogenic in that it could stimulate the in vitro generation of an anti-AKR/Gross MuLV CTL response from tumor-primed C57BL/6 responder spleen cells. Finally, the physiological relevance of peptide 12 was suggested by its ability to fully restore the recognition and lysis of AKR.H-2b SL1 clone 18-5 tumor cells, a naturally occurring variant tumor clone that is insusceptible to lysis by anti-AKR/Gross MuLV CTL. These data indicate that a virus-encoded antigen, represented by peptide 12, and not a nonviral tumor antigen, is the immunodominant epitope responsible for the recognition of EMV+ tumor cells by C57BL/6-derived anti-AKR/Gross MuLV CTL.

Distinct patterns of protective antibodies are generated against Borrelia burgdorferi in mice experimentally inoculated with high and low doses of antigen.

We have studied the development of clinical arthritis and the generation of protective antibodies in two normal, inbred strains of mice either infected by ticks or experimentally (subcutaneous) inoculated with increasing numbers of Borrelia burgdorferi organisms. AKR/N mice developed only mild and DBA/2 mice only marginal clinical arthritis irrespective of the route of infection or the numbers of spirochetes (10-10(8)) inoculated. In contrast, immunodeficient SCID mice developed severe chronic arthritis under similar conditions, but with a delayed onset at lower numbers of needle-inoculated spirochetes or after tick bite. AKR/N and DBA/2 mice inoculated with either 10(4) (and fewer) B. burgdorferi organisms or via experimentally infected ticks generated antibodies with specificities for a variety of B. burgdorferi antigens except those to the outer surface proteins A and B (OspA, OspB). In contrast, mice inoculated with more than 10(4) spirochetes (10(5)-10(8)) developed in addition antibodies to OspA and OspB. Most notably, all three types of immune sera taken from DBA/2 mice showed similar capacities to confer protection on SCID mice against subsequent challenge with viable B. burgdorferi organisms. The data not only demonstrate that the quality of humoral immune responses to B. burgdorferi in mice is determined by the antigenic load, they also indicate the existence of further protective antibodies with specificities distinct from OspA and OspB.

Analysis of Ly-1+ B-cell populations and IgH rearrangements in "normal" spleens and in lymphomas of AKR/J and AKR Fv-1b mice.

AKR mice are highly susceptible to development of spontaneous T-cell lymphoma. Thymus removal at the age of 1-3 months greatly reduces T-cell lymphoma. Lymphomas that have the characteristics of T- and/or B-cells occur sporadically in peripheral lymphoid tissues of old thymectomized AKR/J mice. These thymectomized mice were shown to carry dormant potential lymphoma cells. Transplantation of lymphoid cells from 8-12-month-old AKR/J mice, thymectomized at the age of 6 to 8 weeks, into intact or thymectomized young recipients yielded 80-100% Ly-1+ pre-B or B-cell lymphomas. In the AKR-Fv-1b congenic strain the Fv-1n allele of AKR/J mice was substituted with the Fv-1b allele, thereby limiting viral replication and spread of the endogenous N-tropic murine leukemia virus. As a result of this restriction in virus spread, AKR-Fv-1b mice develop a low spontaneous incidence (7%) of T-cell lymphomas and about 28% of Ly-1+ B-cell lymphomas at old age. In spleens of 15-18-month-old thymectomized AKR/J mice and intact AKR-Fv-1b mice, 30-60% of the B-cells were of the Ly-1+ B type. Analysis of the IgH locus in these normal old spleens and Ly-1+ B lymphomas indicated mono- or oligoclonality. One particular IgH rearrangement was identified in many individual old spleens and tumors. A second specific IgH rearrangement was found in some tumors. Possible mechanisms involved in the expansion of Ly-1+ clones and their progression into tumors are discussed.

Delayed infusion of normal donor cells after MHC-matched bone marrow transplantation provides an antileukemia reaction without graft-versus-host disease.

When allogeneic BMT is used for the treatment of leukemia, depletion of T cells from the donor BM to avoid GVHD may be accompanied by persistence of host cells and post-transplant relapse. In this report, a murine model of MHC-compatible BMT was used to show that delayed infusion of immunocompetent donor cells early after T cell-deficient BMT eliminated residual host cells and provided an antileukemic effect without causing lethal GVHD. AKR (H-2k) recipient mice were pre-conditioned with 9 Gy total body irradiation (LD50) and transplanted with 10(7) BM cells from MHC-matched B10.BR donors. These mice did not develop GVHD and became stable, long-term mixed (donor-host) T cell chimeras. In this model, mixed or incomplete donor T cell chimerism was associated with decreased GVL reactivity. AKR hosts that were transplanted with B10.BR bone marrow admixed with 3 x 10(7) B10.BR spleen cells (as a source of T cells) became complete donor T cell chimeras, but they developed severe and lethal GVHD. However, when the infusion of donor spleen cells was delayed until 21 days after BMT, few mice exhibited any clinical signs of GVHD, and > 95% of the mice became long-term survivors. The infused spleen cells eliminated residual host T cells by 21 days after infusion, and most chimeras were able to resist a supralethal challenge with AKR leukemia/lymphoma cells. Thus, post-transplant adoptive immunotherapy with normal mononuclear cells from the marrow donor may be an effective way to eliminate residual disease or treat leukemia relapse after BMT without causing significant GVHD.

Ia-antigen-T-cell interactions for a thymus-independent antigen composed of D amino acids.

Synthetic polypeptide antigens of L amino acids, although bearing repeating sequences, are thymus-dependent (L-TD), whereas the same polymers composed of D amino acids are thymus-independent (D-TI), probably due to a slower rate of metabolism. Yet we found that lymph-node cells of BALB/c mice immunized with D-TI proliferate in response to it in vitro. To follow T-cell activation by D-TI, we established T-cell hybridomas to D-TI and to its analog composed of L isomers, L-TD, for comparison. The T-cell hybridomas express membrane alpha/beta T-cell receptors and secrete interleukin 2 upon stimulation with the respective antigen. In addition, D-TI-specific hybridomas are stimulated, to a lesser extent, by the L-TD antigen, whereas only some L-TD-specific hybridomas recognize D-TI. Moreover, biotinylated analogs of D-TI and L-TD bind to splenic antigen-presenting cells (APCs) from BALB/c mice. Binding is inhibited by an excess of nonbiotinylated L-TD, and by an excess of a peptide comprising residues 259-271 of the human acetylcholine receptor alpha subunit, which binds to I-Ad and I-Ed molecules without prior processing. Analysis of APC lysates following incubation of the APCs with biotinylated D-TI and L-TD reveals that the biotinylated antigen moiety is associated with Ia molecules. D-TI and L-TD bind to Ia molecules on intact APCs with similar KD values, 5 x 10(-8) M and 3 x 10(-8) M, respectively. However, D-TI has faster kinetics of binding than L-TD, probably due to different processing requirements. Hence, we have demonstrated a major histocompatibility complex class II-mediated T-cell response to a thymus-independent antigen.

Selection of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocyte T cell receptors: evidence for a dynamic tissue-specific process.

An extensive comparison of TCR alpha beta V-region usage by CD8 beta-CD4+CD8+ intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL), CD4-CD8+ IEL, and lymph node (LN) T cell subsets in three minor lymphocyte stimulating (Mls)-disparate, MHC-identical mouse strains revealed novel TCR selection patterns. In cases where forbidden V regions were expressed by CD8 beta- CD4-CD8+ IEL, the same TCRs were deleted from CD8 beta- CD4+CD8+ IEL, indicating that lack of CD8 beta expression was not solely responsible for forbidden V-region expression. These results also suggested that CD4 may be involved in negative selection of CD4+CD8+ IEL TCRs. In C57BR/cdJ (Mls-1b2b) mice, a major increase in V beta 3+CD4+CD8+ IEL but not in other IEL or LN subsets was noted suggesting a subset-specific expansion of V beta 3+ cells. Negative selection of V beta 14+ cells in only the CD4+CD8+ IEL subset further supported the existence of intestine-specific TCR selection processes. Analysis of V-region expression of CD8 beta + and CD8 beta-CD4-CD8+ IEL subsets revealed that forbidden V-region expression was not strictly confined to the CD8 beta- subset in all cases. Overall, the data point to a dynamic, gut-specific TCR selection process that may be antigen driven.

Unusual expression pattern of the MHC class I Q5k gene in the AKR mouse: possible role in embryo development.

Analysis of the tissue-specific expression of the Q5k gene in the AKR mouse reveals an unusual expression pattern. The Q5k mRNA is present in embryos from day 12, but expression is switched off in most tissues except thymus and testis shortly after birth. Late in pregnancy the gene is again transcribed in females. Analysis at the epitope level, with a Qa-2 specific monoclonal antibody revealed that in most cases the Q5k product is confined to the cytoplasm. These results suggest that Q5k has a most unusual tissue distribution and timing of expression among all the H-2 class I and Q genes so far described.

Rat thymic epithelium positively selects mouse T cells with specificity for rat MHC class II antigens but fails to induce detectable tolerance in the mouse T cells to the rat MHC antigens.

BALB/c (H-2d) nude mice were grafted with allogeneic AKR/J (H-2k) or xenogeneic (ACI-N rat, RT1av1) fetal thymuses which were depleted of hemopoietic cells by incubating with 2'-deoxyguanosine (2'dGuo) in vitro prior to grafting. The nylon-wool-passed LN T cells from nude mice grafted with 2'dGuo-treated AKR/J thymus showed a poor proliferative response to B10BR (H-2k) stimulator cells, confirming that mouse thymic epithelium has the capacity to induce tolerance against the mouse MHC antigens on the thymic epithelium. On the other hand, the nylon-wool-passed LN T cells from nude mice grafted with untreated or 2'dGuo-treated ACI/N rat thymus showed significant proliferative responses to ACI/N, which can be blocked by anti-rat MHC class II mAb, whereas the nylon-wool-passed LN T cells from nude mice grafted with syngeneic thymus hardly responded to the xenogeneic stimulator cells. These results suggest that rat thymic stromal cells including thymic epithelium can not induce detectable tolerance in mouse T cells to rat MHC antigens; but rat thymic epithelium may positively select mouse T cells with specificity for rat MHC class II antigens, resulting in a mouse T cell repertoire with strong xeno-reactivity.

Sequence and length heterogeneity of alpha Fc gamma R transcripts in AKR mice.

The murine low-affinity receptors for IgG, Fc gamma RIII and Fc gamma RII, are encoded by the alpha and the beta Fc gamma R genes, respectively. By contrast to the sequence and the molecular polymorphism of human Fc gamma RIII, no heterogeneity of the murine Fc gamma RIII has been reported and a single alpha Fc gamma R transcript was observed. We describe here a double heterogeneity of alpha Fc gamma R transcripts. First, by S1 mapping of alpha transcripts and by cloning of cDNA coding for Fc gamma RIII, we found a strain-related sequence heterogeneity: four amino acids in the coding region and two stretches of nucleotides in the 3' untranslated sequences differ between alpha transcripts of AKR and BALB/c mice. Second, in AKR mice, we found a cell-dependent length heterogeneity: a short 0.9 kb alpha transcript was present in peritoneal thioglycolate-elicited cells (PEC) from AKR mice. This transcript was present neither in mast cells and NK cells from AKR and BALB/c mice nor in PEC from BALB/c mice. A short cDNA, with a deletion of all the 3' untranslated sequences, has been cloned from AKR PEC, and corresponds to the short alpha transcript. All the differences found in the 3' untranslated sequences of AKR alpha transcripts are located within the fifth exon of the mouse alpha Fc gamma R gene.

A sequential multi-assay protocol for the preclinical assessment of natural product complex carbohydrate immunomodulators.

A major barrier to the understanding, development and utilization of natural product complex carbohydrate immunomodulators has been the lack of standardization during pre-clinical efficacy and safety testing. In addition, it has been our experience that no single assay system or model is adequate for assessing preclinical efficacy and safety of these agents. To address these important issues, our laboratory group has developed a sequential multi-assay protocol for the preclinical evaluation of natural product complex carbohydrate immunomodulators. This sequential multi-assay screening protocol is divided into four phases: 1) physiochemical characterization of the carbohydrate polymer; 2) evaluation of immune stimulatory activity; 3) assessing in vivo anti-microbial activity and anti-tumor efficacy and 4) preclinical safety evaluation. This sequential protocol provides an effective, reproducible and rational approach to the preclinical assessment of complex carbohydrate immunomodulators that, in our experience, is predictive of clinical safety and efficacy.

Mouse T lymphocyte response to acetylcholine receptor determined by T cell receptor for antigen V beta gene products recognizing Mls-1a.

Mice of strain B6, but not AKR/J, respond to immunization with Torpedo acetylcholine receptor (AChR) by manifesting in vitro an Ag-specific T lymphocyte proliferative response. Our analysis of (AKR x B6)F1 mice reveals that the T cell unresponsiveness of AKR/J is inherited as a dominant trait, possibly associated with expression of the Mls-1a allele. Mice derived from backcrossing (AKR x B6)F1 x B6 were selected for H-2b homozygosity and were classified as Mls-1a or Mls-1b according to the relative numbers of peripheral blood T cells that expressed the TCR V beta 6 gene product. After challenge by injection with AChR in CFA, lymph node cells from mice classified as having less than 2% of V beta 6+ peripheral T cells had low responsiveness to AChR, whereas mice with greater than 7% V beta 6+ peripheral T cells had high T cell responsiveness to AChR. These results are consistent with the notion that regulation of the T cell repertoire by Mls loci may be a determinant of susceptibility to autoimmunity.

Resistance to NK and metastatic potential of fibrosarcoma cells is associated with products encoded by the H-2D region.

We have used the murine 3-methylcholanthrene induced T10 fibrosarcoma tumor cell system originating in (C3II/en x C57BL/6)F1 mice (H-2b x H-2k) to elucidate the possible correlation between metastatic potential, expression of individual H-2 antigens and susceptibility to NK cells. Transfection of the non metastatic and NK sensitive IC9 cells (Db+, Kk, Kb, Kk-) with the H-2Dk gene, altered the metastatic phenotype of the parental cells, yet had no effect on the susceptibility of these tumor cells to lysis by NK and did not elicit a specific CTL response in syngeneic hosts. Variants of the metastatic and NK resistant IE7 clone (Db+, Kk-, Kb-, Kk-), lacking H-2Dk, were selected by treatment with monoclonal anti H-2Dk antibodies and complement. These variants were sensitive to NK and poorly or non metastatic. Transfection of Dk negative variants with the H-2Dk gene, resulted in the isolation of several clones which expressed a wide range of metastatic phenotypes but maintained sensitivity to NK. In addition, by cloning the cDNA of the H-2Dk gene of the metastatic T10-IE7 variant cells and analyzing its nucleotide sequence, we found four single nucleotide changes. Two of them are not expected to alter the encoded amino acids, whereas the others should result in two amino acid substitutions in the alpha-2 domain of the class I H-2Kd protein product. These changes might account, at least partially, for the failure of the transfection of H-2Dk to restore resistance to NK.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Extrathymic clonal deletion of self-reactive cells in athymic mice.

The repertoire of T cells present in congenitally athymic mice was studied by flow cytometric analysis on populations of T cells expanded polyclonally in vitro. Athymic (BALB/c x C57BL/6)F1 mice have levels of potentially autoreactive V beta 3- and V beta 11-bearing T cells that are significantly higher than those of euthymic CB6F1 mice. Examination of potentially autoreactive cells in athymic AKR mice, however, yielded contrasting results. V beta 6+ cells, which are deleted intrathymically in normal AKR mice, are present in the repertoire of young (less than 6-wk-old) AKR nu/nu mice. Isolation of a cloned CD4+V beta 6+ cell line with Mls-1a reactivity from young AKR nu/nu mice indicates that the correlation between TCR usage and specificity is consistent with that described in euthymic mice and that this population contains autoreactive T cells that are not anergic. By 6 mo of age, however, cells expressing V beta 6 are no longer detectable. Inability to detect these cells is not simply caused by failure to expand these cells in culture, because freshly isolated populations from old nude mice exhibit the same selective absence of V beta 6-bearing cells. The data strongly suggest that extrathymic deletion, rather than clonal anergy, accounts for the apparent absence of autoreactive V beta 6-bearing cells in aged AKR nu/nu mice.

Mechanism of nonresponsiveness to AKR/Gross leukemia virus in AKR.H-2b:Fv-1b mice. An analysis of precursor cytotoxic T lymphocyte frequencies in young versus moderately aged mice.

As young adult AKR.H-2b:Fv-1b mice reach about 9 wk of age, they begin to develop a nonresponsiveness to AKR/Gross leukemia virus. Unlike young mice that are responders, moderately aged AKR.H-2b:Fv-1b mice, after immunization and secondary in vitro restimulation in bulk culture with AKR/Gross virus induced tumors, can not generate anti-AKR/Gross virus-specific CTL. The mechanism of conversion to nonresponsiveness in moderately aged AKR.H-2b:Fv-1b mice is not understood, but it is correlated with increased expression of endogenous ecotropic viral antigens. Our present investigation focuses on determining the frequency of anti-AKR/Gross virus precursor CTL in AKR.H-2b:Fv-1b mice as a function of age. This was achieved by performing limiting dilution cultures of immune spleen cells obtained from young and moderately aged AKR.H-2b:Fv-1b mice. Although spleen cells obtained from immune moderately aged mice can not differentiate in bulk cultures into anti-AKR/Gross virus-specific CTL, there was no evidence of substantially decreased frequencies of virus-specific precursor CTL, relative to precursor CTL frequencies observed in young responder AKR.H-2b:Fv-1b mice.

Deficiency in early development of the thymus-dependent cells in irradiation chimeras attributable to recipient's environment.

Allogeneic bone marrow chimeras were prepared using reciprocal combinations of AKR and C3H mice. When C3H mice were recipients, the number of thymocytes recoverable from such chimeras (C3H recipient chimeras) was small as compared with that from chimeras for which AKR mice were used as recipients (AKR recipient chimeras) regardless of donor strain. The thymocytes from C3H recipient chimeras showed a profound deficiency in generating proliferative responses to stimulation by anti-CD3 mAb (2C11) or anti-TCR (alpha, beta) mAb (H57-597), even though the expression of CD3 and TCR molecules fell within the same range as that in AKR recipient chimeras. Furthermore, after stimulation with immobilized 2C11, the proportion of IL-2R+ cells in the thymocytes from C3H recipient chimeras was much less than that in AKR recipient chimeras. However, no significant difference in proliferative responses to 2C11 plus PMA, in influx of Ca2+ after stimulation with 2C11 or IL-2 production in response to 2C11 plus PMA or PMA plus A23187 was demonstrated between C3H and AKR recipient chimeras. These findings suggest that the thymocytes from C3H recipient chimeras have a deficiency in the signal transduction system as compared with chimeras for which AKR mice are the recipients. The thymic stromal component involved in this difference in the C3H recipient chimeras is discussed.

Effects of stimulated or immunologically activated macrophages on the induction of immune responses to Listeria monocytogenes.

The influences of peritoneal macrophages induced by proteose peptone, Corynebacterium parvum (C. parvum) or Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) on the initiation and development of immune responses and protection against Listeria monocytogenes infection were studied in mice. Mice treated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with proteose peptone 4 days previously showed much the same level of protection against an intraperitoneal infection with Listeria as untreated mice. Mice treated i.p. with C. parvum 4 days previously, of which peritoneal macrophages had increased abilities for intracellular killing of Listeria and O2- generation as compared with peptone-elicited macrophages, exhibited an enhanced resistance against the listerial infection. The degree of immune responses, as assessed by delayed footpad reaction (DFR), was rather depressed in these mice because C. parvum-activated macrophages acting as scavenger cells reduced the amount of effective antigenic stimulation. BCG-activated peritoneal macrophages from mice treated i.p. with BCG 14 days previously showed a strong ability for antigen presentation in correlation with increases in the number of Ia-bearing macrophages and in the level of interleukin 1 (IL 1) production. These mice showed an early appearance of DFR response and a markedly enhanced resistance against the listerial infection. These results suggested that the differences in macrophage activities as scavenger cells, cytokine-secreting cells and antigen presenting cells may account for the differences in the responsiveness against listerial infection in peptone-, C. parvum- and BCG-treated mice.

[Characteristics of blood neutrophil reactions to acute hypoxia in mice of low and high tumor incidence strains]. / Osobennosti reaktsii neitrofilov krovi myshei nizko- i visokorakovykh linii na ostruiu gipoksiiu.

The dependence of the neutrophil reaction of the low-tumour strain mice CBA/CaLacY, BALB/cLacY and C57B1/6J on acute hypoxia upon the value of the initial activity (the Wilder-Leites rule is shown. This dependence is disturbed in the high-tumour strain mice AKR/JY and A/SnY. The possible presence of latent immunodeficiency in AKR/JY and A/SnY mice is discussed.

Organization of the AKR Qa region: structure of a divergent class I sequence, Q5k.

We established the organization of the AKR Qa region and determined the sequence of the Q4 and Q5 genes. Restriction mapping and genomic Southern blot analysis revealed that the AKR strain codes for only three H-2K homologous genes in this region. The AKR Q5 gene is not homologous to the Q5 gene of the C57BL strain, but is presumably allelic to the Q5 gene isolated from Balb/c. The organization and structure of the AKR Qa family is virtually identical to the Qa genes of the C3H mouse. The AKR Q5 gene, in contrast to other H-2K homologous Qa region genes, codes for a typical transmembrane region, and upon transfection into BHK cells, a 1.6 kb Q5 transcript is detected.

Cloning and characterization of a polymorphic class I MHC gene in the AKR lymphoma K36.16.

Cancers are the result of somatic heritable changes in certain genes. The AKR leukaemia K36.16 has been extensively studied in our laboratory. When compared to normal AKR thymocytes, the K36.16 tumour cells do not express the H-2Kk antigens and have an unexpected antigenic determinant that could be detected by anti-H-2Dd monoclonal antibodies. To understand the molecular mechanisms that could be responsible for these changes, we have compared the genomic composition of the class I MHC genes in the K36.16 tumour cells to that of normal AKR lymphocytes. A unique polymorphic 2.6-kb Hind III fragment was detected in DNA obtained from the K36.16 tumour cells after hybridization with a 3'-gene-coding H-2 probe. This fragment is not present in DNA of normal AKR lymphocytes. In an effort to further understand the mechanism underlying the nature of this MHC gene polymorphism, we have cloned and sequenced this Hind III fragment. When compared with the reported sequences of a number of mouse class I MHC genes, the nucleotide sequence of this polymorphic Hind III fragment is similar to that of a reported Tla gene.