title: Hepatitis B virus-reactive human T lymphocyte clones: antigen specificity and helper function for antibody synthesis.
abstract: To study immunity to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) at the cellular level, lymphocytes were obtained from the peripheral blood of hepatitis B vaccine recipients and were examined for various immune responses to HBsAg in vitro. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) from most of the vaccinees did not proliferate to a great extent to HBsAg in vitro. However, HBsAg-reactive lymphocyte lines and clones were obtained from some of these individuals if the PBM were stimulated in vitro with HBsAg and were maintained in the presence of T cell growth supplement. Most of the HBsAg-reactive T cell clones obtained were found to be antigen-specific and some of them provided help in the production of anti-HBsAg antibodies by a cell population enriched for HBsAg-binding cells. These results indicate that HBsAg-specific T and B cells exist in the circulation of hepatitis B vaccine recipients, although they are at limiting concentrations for the in vitro cell proliferation and antibody production assays.
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D000921:Antibody-Producing Cells / Q000276:immunology; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000939:Epitopes; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D014765:Viral Vaccines