Antigen- and receptor-driven regulatory mechanisms. VIII. Suppression of idiotype-negative, p-azobenzenearsonate-specific T cells results from the interaction of an anti-idiotypic second-order T suppressor cell with a cross-reactive-idiotype-positive, p-azobenzenearsonate-primed T cell target.

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Abstract
The suppressor pathway that regulates the T cell response to p-azobenzenearsonate (ABA)-coupled cells was studied. The ability of anti-idiotypic 2nd-order T suppressor cells (Ts2) to inhibit T cell-dependent delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses depended upon the presence of cross-reactive-idiotype (CRI)-bearing T cells present in ABA-primed mice. This suppressor T cell subset, termed Ts3, coexists with CRI-negative T cells that mediate DTH in vivo. Antigen-activated CRI+ Ts3 apparently require signals from the anti-CRI Ts2 subset to suppress DTH reactions in an idiotype-nonspecific manner. The relevance of these observations to a comprehensive scheme of T and B cell regulation is discussed.