Abstract
Normal spleen cells cultured in high or low concentrations of interleukin (IL) 2 for 3 days contain Thy-1+ CD4- CD8+ cells that powerfully suppress primary but not ongoing or active lymphocyte responses. The precursors of these cells are Thy-1+AGM-1- and are absent or present in greatly diminished numbers in athymic and scid mice. Suppression is neither antigen nor H-2 restricted and apparently results from reversible inactivation of resting lymphocytes. Comparable Thy-1+ CD8+ suppressor cells were also recovered from normal spleen cells cultured for 3 days with anti-CD3 antibody without added IL-2, indicating that these cells can be activated during the course of immune responses. Such cells may prevent local recruitment/activation of lymphocytes specific for new epitopes that may be expressed sequentially by proliferating tumor cells or infectious organisms.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 50-63 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Cellular Immunology |
Volume | 124 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1989 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology