T cell enrichment by nonadherence to nylon.

Differential adherence properties of T cells, B cells, and accessory cells such as macrophages or other APC (antigen-presenting cells) can be employed to enrich for T cells. While the basis for this adherence is not understood, either nylon wool or Sephadex G-10 can be used as column matrices to which B cells and accessory cells will more readily adhere than T cells. Such procedures offer a convenient, although imprecise, means of enriching T cells through removal of accessory and B cells; use of nylon wool is preferred if both of the latter subsets are to be removed, while Sephadex is used when the goal is primarily to remove accessory cells.