Tissue distribution of human minor histocompatibility antigens. Ubiquitous versus restricted tissue distribution indicates heterogeneity among human cytotoxic T lymphocyte-defined non-MHC antigens.

We determined the tissue distribution of 7 human minor histocompatibility (H) Ag. Each of these Ag is defined by one or more MHC class I-restricted CTL clones, previously generated from PBL primed against minor H Ag by HLA-identical bone marrow transplantation (BMT). CTL-mediated lysis of tissue-derived cells and cultured cell lines was used as an in vitro assay for minor H Ag expression of several human tissues. The Ag HA-3 (HLA-A1-restricted), HA-4 (HLA-A2 restricted), HA-6 and HA-7 (HLA-B7 restricted), and the male-specific Ag H-Y (HLA-A2 and B7 restricted) were found to be expressed on cells of all tissues tested. In contrast, the HLA-A2-restricted Ag HA-1 and HA-2 were demonstrated on PHA-blasts, EBV-BLCL, purified T cells, B cells, monocytes, and immature thymocytes, but could not be demonstrated on skin-derived cultured fibroblasts, keratinocytes, melanocytes, cultured epithelial cells of kidney proximal tubili, and umbilical cord vein-derived endothelial cells. Incubation of the latter cell lines with rIFN-gamma, rTNF-alpha, and/or rIL-1 alpha, in concentrations shown to maximally increase their susceptibility to lysis by allo-MHC class I CTL, did not induce recognition by HA-1- and HA-2-specific CTL in vitro. These results indicate an ubiquitous tissue expression of the minor H Ag HA-3, -4, -6, -7 and H-Y in contrast to a to the hemopoietic cell lineage-restricted expression for HA-1 and HA-2. The heterogeneity in tissue expression of T cell-defined, class I-restricted non-MHC Ag implies that they might be derived from intracellular proteins with either an ubiquitous or a more specialized cell type-specific function.