Syngeneic sensitization of mouse lymphocytes on monolayers of thyroid epithelial cells. VII. Generation of thyroid-specific cytotoxic effector cells.

During primary syngeneic sensitization of lymphocytes on monolayers of thyroid epithelial cells (TEC), lymphoblasts are generated as assessed by thymidine uptake. When these thyroid-sensitized lymphoblasts are deposited onto 51Cr labeled TEC used as target cells, syngeneic cytotoxicity (SC) occurs after 5 hr. The effector cell of this SC is a T lymphocyte, belonging to the Lyt-2 T-cell subset. Moreover, blocking experiments demonstrated that SC involves class I major histocompatibility complex and thyroglobulin (Tg) antigens. These data demonstrate that SC can be compared to the classical hapten or virus self-mediated cytotoxicity, but in this case Tg plays the role of these agents. The in vivo relevance of this SC is discussed.