B cells directly tolerize CD8(+) T cells.
This report investigates the response of CD8(+) T cells to antigens presented by B cells. When C57BL/6 mice were injected with syngeneic B cells coated with the Kb-restricted ovalbumin (OVA) determinant OVA257-264, OVA-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) tolerance was observed. To investigate the mechanism of tolerance induction, in vitro-activated CD8(+) T cells from the Kb-restricted, OVA-specific T cell receptor transgenic line OT-I (OT-I cells) were cultured for 15 h with antigen-bearing B cells, and their survival was determined. Antigen recognition led to the killing of the B cells and, surprisingly, to the death of a large proportion of the OT-I CTLs. T cell death involved Fas (CD95), since OT-I cells deficient in CD95 molecules showed preferential survival after recognition of antigen on B cells. To investigate the tolerance mechanism in vivo, naive OT-I T cells were adoptively transferred into normal mice, and these mice were coinjected with antigen-bearing B cells. In this case, OT-I cells proliferated transiently and were then lost from the secondary lymphoid compartment. These data provide the first demonstration that B cells can directly tolerize CD8(+) T cells, and suggest that this occurs via CD95-mediated, activation-induced deletion.
Bennett
S R
SR
Immunology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3050, Australia.
Carbone
F R
FR
Toy
T
T
Miller
J F
JF
Heath
W R
WR
D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D008211:Lymphocyte Cooperation; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000276:immunology
D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D019014:fas Receptor