Induction of T-helper cell activity by fragments of rye grass pollen extract produced by digestion with chymotrypsin.

Rye grass pollen extract was digested by chymotrypsin to produce fragments with a molecular weight below 10,000, as demonstrated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Chymotryptic fragments did not react with either human or mouse IgG antibodies specific for rye grass pollen, nor did they induce an antibody response in mice with specificity for the parent extract. However, macrophage-presented fragments retained the ability to react with rye-specific T cells in a lymphoproliferation assay. Furthermore, these fragments induced the development of splenocytes capable of supporting dinitrophenyl specific antibody production. This implies that the fragments still react with, and induce, rye grass pollen extract-specific T-helper cells. The possibility that such fragments might have potential for use in immunotherapy for the specific treatment of allergy is discussed.