A marmoset T lymphoma which functions as a human amplifier T cell.

A long-term in vitro grown T cell line derived from a cotton-topped marmoset (Saguinus oedipus) infected with Herpesvirus saimiri was fond to share surface antigens with human amplifier T cells and to augment the capacity of human B cells to secrete immunoglobulin. This is the first demonstration of T/B collaboration across such a large phylogenetic barrier and might have interesting implications for understanding the nature of molecular interactions mediating cell/cell cooperation.