Primary T-cell responses to minor alloantigens. I. Characterization of cytotoxic effector cells generated from regional lymph nodes after immunization in the footpad

A system is decribed which involves an in-vivo and an in-vitro step for the generation of strong primary cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses to multiple minor alloantigens. The protocol consists of immunizing mice in the footpad with irradiated, minor alloantigen-different spleen cells. Four days later, cells from the lymph nodes draining the site of injection are cultured for 3 days in the absence of antigen to allow the development of cytotoxic activity. The analysis of the effector phase of the response indicates that the killer cells are H-2 restricted cytotoxic cells specific for minor alloantigens. The in-vitro phase of these cytotoxic responses is T cell-dependent and the responder cells proliferate strongly during the culture period. Both cytotoxic and proliferative responses are abolished by passing responder cells over Sphadex G-10 prior to culture. The results suggest that the maturation process of CTL-precursor (CTL-P) cells into effector CTL in vitro depends upon proliferating T cells and accessory cells.