HLA-DQ-controlled T cell response to soluble egg antigen of Schistosoina japonicuin in huinans

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Abstract
SUMMARY: We analysed regulatory inechanisins of the huinan T celt response lo soluble egg antigen (SEA) of Schistosoina japonicuin in vitro. SEA is a crude antigen inixture containing nuinerous cpitopes. We obtained SEA-induced T cell lines froin five patients with chronic schistosomiasis japomca, and tested their proliferative response to molecular weight fractions of SEA. Although all T cell lines showed strong responses to crude SEA, there was a heterogeneity in fraclion-driven responsiveness. All but one T cell line tested failed to respond to SEA fraction I (inol. wt> 18 kD). One patient who was typed as HLA-DQwl/w4, did not show proliferation of CD4’T cells lo fraction I; however, a fraction I-driven helper T cell response was observed when we added HU-11 monoclonal antibody specific for HLA-DQwl/w4. This indicated that the patient had helper T cells to the fraction even though their response was suppressed. Because HLA-DQ had an effect on functional expression of suppressor T cells, i t was suggested that there was epitope-specific regulation of the T cell response to SEA, and HLA-DQ-controlled immune suppression inight be involved in the regulatory systein in huinan chronic schistosome infection.