T helper cells grown with hapten‐modified cultured Langerhans' cells produce interleukin 4 and stimulate IgE production by B cells

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Abstract
Hapten-specific CD4 T helper (Th) lines generated by repeated stimulation with hapten-modified, cultured Langerhans' cells (cLC) release interleukin (IL 4) (B cell stimulatory factor 1) but not detectable IL 2 into the culture media. The growth of Th cells in response to hapten-modified cLC was inhibited by an anti-IL 4 monoclonal antibody (mAb) but not by mAb to either IL 2 or the p55 chain of the IL 2 receptor. Furthermore, these cells could be stimulated to proliferate by concanavalin A and IL 1. These results indicate that IL 4 is the autocrine growth factor for these Th lines and that IL 1 plays a critical role in their growth. The Th cells exhibited 1500–10000 high-affinity IL 4 receptors cell. When cultured with syngeneic, hapten-modified, small resting B cells, Th cells caused specific IgE production of up to 20 ng/104 B cells. Thus, IL 4 producing Th lines appear to result from their selective stimulation by cLC, suggesting that T cell responses elicited in this way profoundly influence the B cell isotype pattern.