Competence of B cells for T-cell help in pokeweed mitogen-induced immunoglobulin production.

Pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-induced polyclonal immunoglobulin (Ig) production of B cells is highly reproducible and the response has been shown to be dependent on T cells. We investigated whether or not human helper T cells are able to collaborate with B cells in PWM-induced polyclonal Ig production across allogeneic barriers, using T and B cells obtained from healthy individuals and a(hypo)-gammaglobulinemia patients. In results, it has become clear that the B-cell competence is required for T-cell help among healthy individuals and between healthy and a(hypo)-gammaglobulinemic individuals. These phenomena were associated with suppressor or killer T cells rather than HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DR antigens. They also imply that in order to investigate the T-cell helper activities of a(hypo)-gammaglobulinemia patients their T cells should be tested in cocultures not only with B cells of the third party individuals but also with B cells of patient family members.