Impairment of antigen-presenting cell function by ultraviolet radiation. II. Effect of in vitro ultraviolet irradiation on antigen-presenting cells.

The s.c. injection of 10 mM 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) derivatized splenic adherent cells (SACs) into syngeneic mice primes for contact sensitivity or delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) when these animals are challenged with picryl chloride on the ear or trinitrophenol (TNP)-coupled cells in the footpad, respectively. If recipient mice are exposed to ultraviolet light (UV) irradiation and are immunized with normal TNP-treated SACs, they develop marked DTH reaction upon challenge but develop limited DTH reactions if immunized with hapten-derivatized SACs that had been obtained from UV-treated recipients. Moreover, if the SACs are obtained from normal mice but are treated in vitro with UV light (1.2 to 1.4 mJ/cm2/sec over the wavelength range 280 to 340 nm at a tube to target distance of 20 cm) these cells can neither prime nor elicit hapten-specific T cell immunity in UV-treated recipients. If UV-treated TNP SACs are used to prime UV-irradiated recipients, TNP-specific suppressor T cells are generated rather than T effector cells.