Characterization of human peripheral blood T lymphocytes bearing receptors for autologous erythrocytes and T lymphocytes lacking these receptors.

When human T cells were treated with neuraminidase from Vibrio cholerae, the capacity of T cells to form rosettes with autologous erythrocytes was markedly enhanced. The neuraminidase-treated T cells wee separated with autologous erythrocytes into autorosetting and nonrosetting cell populations, and these two populations examined for their reactivity to mitogens and B cells and for their regulatory activities. Autorosetting T cells proliferated poorly in response to mitogens and autologous and allogeneic B cells; these cells were particularly enriched for cells capable of becoming concanavalin A-induced suppressor cells. Nonrosetting T cells capable of most actively proliferating in response to the mitogens and the B cells failed to exhibit such suppressor function after concanavalin A activation. Coculture experiments between autorosetting and nonrosetting cells further demonstrated that the nonrosetting T cells were able to potentiate the proliferation of the autorosetting T cells with concomitant expression of the suppressor properties.