"Self-reactive" T cells. III. In vitro restimulation of T cells, "responding" in vivo or in vitro to syngeneic lymphoid cells.

Polyclonally activated lymphoblasts, transferred to syngeneic recipient mice, elicited a host T-cell-mediated "response" in vivo. These T cells, which "responded" in vivo to syngeneic lymphoblasts (i.e. in vivo primed "responder" T-cell population), acquired the capacity to "stimulate" a "response" of syngeneic T cells in vitro in a syngeneic one-way mixed lymphocyte culture, S-MLC (i.e. in vitro primed "'responder" T-cell population). We now describe the presence of memory and specificity in these two types of "self-reactive""responder" T-cell populations. This is investigated in in vitro "restimulation" experiments with mitomycin-blocked syngeneic and allogeneic lymphoid cells of various origin. "Self-reactive" T cells could be restimulated repeatedly (over many weeks) with mitomycin-blocked syngeneic lymphoid-cell populations, but not with mitomycin-blocked allogeneic normal spleen cells. "Self-reactive" T cells "responded" to syngeneic large activated lymphoblasts, as well as to syngeneic small resting lymphocytes. We found no "responder" T-cell reactivity specific for the mitogen that induced syngeneic "stimulator" cell populations. Both populations of "self-reactive" T cells displayed reactivity to mitogen-induced allogeneic lymphoblasts.