Specific thymus-derived (T) cell recognition of papova virus-transformed cells.

As a first step toward identifying papova virus-specific transplantation antigens and characterizing the immune response to these antigens, a series of congenic B10 mouse lines transformed by polyoma virus and SV40 has been obtained. B10.D2 (H-2d) mice immunized with x-irradiated polyoma-transformed B10.D2 cells (PyB10.D2) contained within their spleens a population of T cells that upon restimulation in vitro preferentially lyse 51Cr-labeled PyB10.D2 compared with other allogeneic polyoma-transformed target cells or SV40-transformed B10.D2 cells. Twenty hours after acute infection with polyoma virus, SV10.D2 cells express cell surface structures recognizable by polyoma-specific CTL. This CTL activity is therefore both polyoma specific and H-2 restricted, indicating associative recognition of H-2 molecules along with the virus-specific antigen.