Modulation of in vitro myelopoiesis by alloreactive T cell clones.

Regulatory effects of mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC)-derived CD4+ human T cell clones on granulocyte-macrophage colony (CFU-GM) formation by normal bone marrow (BM) were studied in an initial attempt to establish an in vitro model for the negative feedback control of myelopoiesis by alloactivated T cells. This is likely to be of clinical significance in the aberrant control of haematopoiesis during some cases of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic BM transplantation. Whilst 5 such alloproliferative clones generally failed to suppress CFU-GM, the majority of clones with natural killer (NK)-like activity, or those with suppressive activity in MLC, regularly and strongly suppressed in this system, reinforcing the view that certain T cells may have potent negative regulatory effects on haematopoiesis.