Factors influencing the human cytotoxic T cell response to autologous lymphoblastoid cell lines in vitro.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)- and fetal calf serum (FCS)-specific cytotoxic human T cells can be generated in vitro, and have been shown to be HLA-antigen restricted. In the present work, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with the gamma-irradiated autologous lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL) grown previously in FCS, human serum, or without serum. The induction and generation of cytotoxic T cells was carried out exclusively in culture medium containing autologous serum. With EBV-seronegative responders, FCS-grown stimulator LCL generated a FCS-specific cytotoxic T cell response. AB serum-grown LCL generated only a weak response, except at a high stimulatory dose, where the response tended to be essentially nonspecific. EBV-seropositive responders, in contrast, gave a typical secondary EBV-specific response regardless of the serum in which the LCL had been grown previously; no FCS response was detected. Dose-response and cold target inhibition studies confirmed these results. EBV immunity obviously plays a major role in the T cell response to the autologous LCL, which can no longer be viewed simply as a form of autologous mixed leucocyte reaction.