Expression of murine H-2Kb histocompatibility antigen in cells transformed with cloned H-2 genes.

Cosmids containing H-2 histocompatibility antigen genes of the H-2b haplotype have been isolated. One of these genes expresses a 45,000 molecular weight protein, indistinguishable from H-2Kb when introduced into mouse L cells. These H-2Kb transformed L cells can be killed by allospecific anti-H-2Kb cytotoxic T cells. Moreover, when infected with influenza virus, they can be killed by an H-2Kb-restricted, influenza virus-specific cytotoxic T cell line. These results show that expression of the H-2Kb gene product on the L-cell surface is sufficient to make it a target for specific T-cell killing.