The role of lymphocyte function‐associated antigen 1 (LFA‐1) in the adherence of T lymphocytes to B lymphocytes

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Abstract
The functional role of the LFA-1 molecule in the interaction between helper T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes was investigated using lymphocytes from patients with leukocyte adhesion deficiency, an inherited immunodeficiency characterized by a defective leukocyte expression of the LFA-1, Mac-1 (CR3) and p150,95 molecules. The ability of LFA-1− T lymphocytes to provide antigen-specific help for HLA−identical LFA-1+ B lymphocytes was reduced while their antigen-specific activation was normal. Antigen-independent conjugate formation between resting, nonactivated LFA–1− T lymphocytes and LFA-1+ B lymphocytes was impaired while LFA-1−B lymphocytes bound LFA-1+ T lymphocytes normally. Conjugate formation of activated LFA-1− T lymphocytes was mostly mediated by the CD2-LFA-3 adhesion pathway while the ICAM-1 molecule, a ligand of LFA-1, had no function. These results demonstrate that LFA-1 plays a major role in the cognate interaction between helper T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes that cannot be mediated instead by CD2 or other molecules on resting T lymphocytes.

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