title: Compartmentalized immune responses: antigen-specificity of cerebrospinal fluid T-cell lines maintained in the absence of antigen.
abstract: The generation of long-term interleukin 2-dependent T-cell lines from anatomically compartmentalized sites of pathology offers a unique approach to the investigation of certain autoimmune diseases. However, it is generally believed that antigen-specific T-cell lines and clones lose antigen reactivity and specificity when propagated in the absence of antigen. Therefore, the optimal application of this approach to such diseases in which the pathogenetic antigens are unknown may be difficult. In approaching this problem, we have recently demonstrated that a proportion of antigen-specific T-cell lines derived from the peripheral circulation can maintain antigen specificity if propagated with antigen-presenting cells alone or with antigen-presenting cells together with OKT3 antibody, but in either case in the absence of antigen. In this report we describe the use of this approach to maintain the antigen specificity of T cells obtained from an anatomically compartmentalized site of pathology--the cerebrospinal fluid from a patient with tuberculous meningitis. We report here that a proportion of the T-cell lines generated from such cerebrospinal fluid lymphocytes can be maintained as antigen specific in the absence of antigen if propagated with either antigen-presenting cells alone or with antigen-presenting cells and OKT3 antibody. The approach illustrated in this report should now find broad applicability in the investigation of a number of autoimmune disease.
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014373:Tuberculin / Q000276:immunology; D014390:Tuberculosis, Meningeal / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000941:Antigens; D007376:Interleukin-2; D014373:Tuberculin