title: The induction of resting B cell differentiation does not require T cell contact.
abstract: A T cell clone as well as immediately ex vivo CD4+ lymph node T cells are shown to support the differentiation of co-cultured resting B cells in the absence of T cell-B cell contact. Antibodies specific for class II products of the major histocompatibility complex inhibit the transactivation of resting but not activated B cells. This differential inhibition pattern indicates that the responses obtained from resting B cell populations are not due to their contamination with B cell blasts. Further, supernatants prepared from an activated T cell clone induce resting B cell differentiation. Two lines of evidence suggest that the activity contained in these supernatants can be attributed to interleukin (IL)-5. Activity is neutralized by monoclonal anti-IL-5; and both recombinant and affinity-purified IL-5 induce the differentiation of immediately ex vivo resting and activated B cells with comparable efficiency. Taken together, these results demonstrate that contact with T cells does not provide prerequisite signals for the induction of resting B cell differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Julius
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haughn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D002450:Cell Communication; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000494:pharmacology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D015848:Interleukin-5