Hodgkin's disease cell lines: a model for interleukin-1-independent accessory cell function.

The haemopoietic origins of the Hodgkin's disease (HD)-derived cell lines L428, KM-H2 and HDLM-2 remain controversial. Analysis of T-cell receptor (TcR) and Ig rearrangements cannot resolve this, and lineage promiscuity limits the interpretation of isolated surface antigen expression. Nonetheless the cell marker profile of L428 has similarities with human dendritic cells (DC), and L428 strongly stimulates in the mixed leucocyte reaction (MLR). We therefore undertook an extended immunophenotypic comparison of the HD lines with that recently defined for DC, prior to examining their ability to stimulate allogenic T lymphocytes, and comparing the molecular interactions involved with those of primary MLR stimulatory cells. The immunophenotype of the HD lines failed to establish either a lymphoid or monocytoid derivation. The profile of L428 appeared similar to the human DC. All three lines were potent stimulators in the primary MLR, and each expressed relevant adhesion and signal-transducing molecules important for co-stimulating T lymphocytes. Inhibition studies using monoclonal antibodies indicated similar contributions within HD line-T cell MLR to that documented in human tonsil DC-T cell MLR. The HD lines produced no detectable interleukin-1 (IL-1) by biological or immunological analysis. Moreover they stimulated allogeneic T lymphocytes in the presence of anti-IL-1 antibodies. Thus although IL-1 mRNA can be detected in both HDLM-2 and KM-H2 by polymerase chain reaction, these lines, and L428, share with DC the ability to stimulate allogeneic T lymphocytes in an IL-1-independent manner [corrected]. HD lines, particularly L428, may provide a standardized, reproducible, IL-1-independent model for dissection of the co-stimulatory requirements of the human primary MLR.