Concomitant induction of the cell surface expression of Ia determinants and accessory cell function by a murine macrophage tumor cell line.

This study demonstrates that an uncharacterized soluble factor produced in concanavalin A-induced rat spleen cell suspensions has the capacity to induce the increased expression of cell surface H-2K and H-2D molecules and the expression of I-region gene products on murine monocyte-macrophage lineage tumors that are not Ia positive in the absence of the factor. In parallel with induction of serologically defined Ia specificities, Ia-induced WEHI-3 macrophage tumor cells are capable of providing accessory cell function in stimulating IL-2 production by T-T hybridomas that are activated in a major histocompatibility complex-restricted, antigen-dependent fashion. The uninduced Ia-negative WEHI-3 tumor cells do not trigger a comparable response in this assay system.