Self‐ and allo‐specific suppressor T cells evoked by intravenous injection of F protein

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Abstract
The liver/serum protein F appears to inactivate clones reactive towards itself in the T helper cell but not the B cell compartment. To examine the extent of self‐reactivity in the T suppressor cell compartment, the well‐established procedure of i.v. injecting milligram doses of the protein was used. To detect suppression, an entirely in vitro proliferation assay was devised, based on use of immunopurified F antigen. In this way T suppressor cells could be detected after activation either by allogeneic F, or (though to a lesser extent) by self‐F protein. Thus the T suppressor cell compartment contains potentially self‐reactive clones, and to that extent the receptor repertoire of T suppressor cells overlaps with B rather than T helper cells.