FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF CYCLOSPORINE-SENSITIVE CYTOTOXIC T LYMPHOCYTE PRECURSORS

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Abstract
The influence of the immunosuppressant cyclosporine (CsA) on the antigen-driven activation of resting [mouse] cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursors (CTL-p) and on the reactivation of mixed-lymphocyte-reaction-primed CTL is analyzed at the clonal level. Using the limiting-dilution culture approach, the majority (60-90%) of clones of CTL-p with specificity for given antigens were not activated in the presence of CsA; a minority (10-40%) of CTL-p were CsA-resistant. This is so for alloantigen-reactive CTL-p and major-histocompatibility-complex-resitricted CTL-p with hapten specificity. In contrast, the frequency of CTL grown out of primed mixed lymphocyte culture cells is not influenced by CsA. Although CsA does not interfere with the short-term growth of Il-2 [interleukin-2]-drive activated T cells, it may influence the expression of their cytolytic potential.