Heterogeneity of concanavalin A-induced suppressor T cells in man defined with monoclonal antibodies.

Human peripheral blood T lymphocytes were enriched for OKT4+ or OKT8+ subpopulations using complement mediated lysis with OKT8 or OKT4 monoclonal antibodies. These subpopulations and unfractionated T cells were separately stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A) for a period of 48 hr and were then examined for their suppressive influence on proliferative response of autologous T cells to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or allogeneic non-T cells. Con A-activated unfractionated T cells, OKT4+ and OKT8+ T cell subsets markedly suppressed both these responses. Both OKT4+ and OKT8+ T cell subsets when enriched following Con A-activation of unfractionated T cells also caused significant suppression of proliferative responses of autologous T cells to PHA and allogeneic non-T cells in mixed lymphocyte cultures. The suppressive influence of Con A-activated T subsets was abolished by irradiation (2,000 rad) of activated cells. These studies indicate that Con A-induced suppressor T cells are heterogeneous. Precursors of Con A-induced suppressor T cells appear to reside in both OKT4+ and OKT8+ T cell populations.