Antigen valence determines the binding of nominal antigen to cytolytic T cell clones.

We have shown that cytotoxic T cell clones specific for the nominal antigen FL will bind high molecular weight (600,000 to 2,000,000) polyacrylamide and Ficoll polymers conjugated with 200-600 FL groups per molecule. Low molecular weight polymers (40,000) with the same epitope density did not give stable binding. A high molecular weight polymer with a lower epitope density also failed to bind. Taken together, these results suggest that a substantial degree of multivalence is a necessary factor in the stable binding of nominal antigen to T cell clones.