T cell receptor‐homologous mRNA from a suppressor T cell clone directs the synthesis of antigen‐specific suppressive products

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Abstract
The LH8‐105 T cell clone, obtained by radiation leukemia virus‐induced transformation of hen egg‐white lysozyme (HEL)‐specific mouse suppressor T lymphocytes, constitutively releases in the culture supernatant products able to induce specific suppression of the immune response to HEL. LH8‐105 cells rearrange and express the genes encoding the α and β chains of the antigen‐specific T cell receptor and display membrane T cell receptor structures. LH8‐105 mRNA specific for the α and β chains of the T cell receptor were positively selected on filter‐bound cDNA encoding constant regions of α and β chains, eluted and translated into Xenopus laevis oocytes. Translation products were then tested in vivo for specific suppression of the anti‐HEL antibody response. LH8‐105 culture supernatant and translation products of LH8‐105 poly(A)+ RNA or a mixture of α and β chain‐homologous mRNA induce HEL‐specific suppression whereas translation products of LH8‐105 mRNA eluted from irrelevant DNA or unrecombined mRNA eluted from α and β cDNA do not exert suppressive activity. These results indicate that α and β chain‐homologous mRNA expressed in LH8‐105 cells direct the synthesis of molecules able to induce HEL‐specific suppression.