title: LacZ inducible, antigen/MHC-specific T cell hybrids.
abstract: The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) enhancer element of the IL-2 gene can regulate expression of the Escherichia coli lacZ reporter gene in activated T cells. Based upon this observation, we showed that this inducible NFAT--lacZ construct could be used to measure TCR mediated, ligand-specific activation in single T cells. Here we describe a general approach to obtaining lacZ inducible, T cell hybrids by generating two new fusion partners BWZ.36 and BWZ.36 CD8 alpha derived by transfecting alpha-beta-BW5147 cells with the NFAT--lacZ construct. Using these fusion partners and normal T cells from immunized mice, we obtained T cell hybrids in which lacZ activity is specifically induced in response to antigen/MHC class II or MHC class I complexes. We show that measuring ligand induced T cell activation by the non-radioactive lacZ assay is simpler, faster, and most cost-effective relative to conventional IL-2 assays. Most importantly, the unique ability to detect activation of single T cells by the lacZ assays permits detection of rare antigen presenting cells and thus provides the basis for developing expression cloning strategies for identifying unknown T cell antigens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanderson
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shastri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002459:Cell Fusion; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000276:immunology; D006822:Hybrid Cells; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D007763:Lac Operon / Q000235:genetics*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007376:Interleukin-2; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors