Anti-idiotypic regulation of an insulin-reactive T cell clone.

A series of MHC-restricted, bovine-insulin-(BI) reactive T cell clones were generated. The specificity of one group was shown to be for an insulin A-chain loop determinant; the other group apparently demonstrated specificity of a B-chain determinant and/or amino acid residue A4. Guinea pig anti-idiotypic antisera were prepared against two idiotypically related BI monoclonal antibodies of similar A-chain loop specificity. These reagents were able to modulate the antigen-specific proliferation of an insulin-reactive, A-chain loop-specific T cell clone. Because the monoclonal antibodies and the T cell clone recognize a similar molecular domain of the insulin molecule, these data suggest that the anti-idiotypic sera mimic an insulin-like determinant, perhaps by bearing an "internal image" of the antigen and thereby interfering with T cell antigen recognition. Further, these results suggest that such reagents may be useful in characterization of T cell antigen receptor specificity and lend further credence to the concept of idiotypic-anti-idiotypic regulation of the immune response.