Characterization by a monoclonal antibody and functional analysis of a subset of bovine T lymphocytes that express BoT8, a molecule analogous to human CD8.

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) IL-A17 characterizes a subset of bovine T lymphocytes. IL-A17 recognizes a 34,000-35,000 MW doublet, designated BoT8, which is expressed on the surface of approximately 20% of peripheral blood mononuclear leucocytes (PBM), a subpopulation of lymphocytes in T-dependent areas of lymph nodes and spleen, and about 70% of thymocytes. This molecule is not expressed on B lymphocytes, monocytes/macrophages or granulocytes. Double labelling of PBM showed that the BoT8+ population is distinct from the T lymphocyte subset expressing BoT4. BoT8+ lymphocytes purified with a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) proliferated poorly in response to mitogenic and alloantigenic stimulation in the absence of exogenous growth factors. IL-A17 had no inhibitory effect on proliferation of PBM to mitogens (Con A and PHA) or alloantigens and no measurable effect on the in vitro generation of cytolytic effector cells. However, in some experiments IL-A17 was found to block partially allospecific cytolytic function mediated by bulk effector cell populations when included in 51Cr-release assays. Fractionation of effector cells generated in an allogeneic mixed leucocyte culture (MLC) demonstrated that cytotoxic cells specific for class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens reside within the BoT8+ population. Based on these data, and information reported elsewhere on alloreactive bovine T-cell clones, BoT8 is considered to be analogous to CD8 in humans and equivalent molecules in other species.