Monoclonal antibodies against a rat leucocyte antigen block antigen-induced T-cell responses via an effect on accessory cells.

The MRC OX-45 and OX-46 mouse monoclonal antibodies recognize a rat cell surface glycoprotein of 45,000 MW that is present on a wide variety of haematopoietic cells and on endothelial cells. MRC OX-45 IgG or F(ab')2 blocked the primary mixed lymphocyte response (MLR) and the secondary response of T lymphocytes to the soluble antigen DNP-BGG. In contrast, the antibodies had no effect on the cytotoxic activity of specific (CTL) or non-specific (NK) killer cells or on proliferative responses stimulated by lectins or oxidative mitogenesis. The inhibitory effect was at the level of stimulator cells rather than responders since mouse anti-rat xenogeneic MLRs were inhibited but rat anti-mouse responses were unaffected. However, the effect was not a direct one because inhibition was seen when irradiated spleen cells were used as stimulators but not when cell populations highly enriched for dendritic cells were used. In the latter case, inhibition potentiated by antibody could be restored if a peritoneal cell population enriched for macrophages was added back to the cultures. The inhibitory effects of these monoclonal antibodies seem most likely to be due to potentiation of nonspecific suppression by macrophages.