Studies on suppressor factors produced by T-cell hybridomas. I. Characterization of antigen-specific suppressor factors.

ABSTRACT

Antigen-specific and antigen-nonspecific suppressor T cells were generated when spleen cells prepared from C57BL/6J (H-2b) were incubated with trinitrophenylated polyacrylamide beads (TNP-PAA) in vitro. T hybridomas were prepared by fusion of spleen cells cultured with TNP-PAA for 4 days and the thymoma cell line BW5147. More than 100 hybridomas were generated, and 15 of them suppressed the anti-TNP PFC response of fresh spleen cells cultured with TNP-PAA. The suppression was antigen specific with three of these five hybridoma supernatants tested. Hybridomas that caused antigen-specific suppression secrete factors which bring about suppression of the anti-TNP PFC response by spleen cells cultured with TNP-PAA. These hybridoma supernatants which cause antigen-specific suppression typically depressed the anti-TNP PFC response by 60% while depressing anti-SRBC PFC response by only 10%. The antigen-specific suppressor factors were bound to a TNP-BGG column but not to a BGG column. The suppressor factors, purified by affinity chromatography on a TNP-BGG column, were bound to anti-I-Jb antibody.