Cloning with Antigens and Interleukin 2 of Murine T Lymphocytes Having Distinct Functions

This chapter describes cloning with antigens and interleukin 2 of murine t lymphocytes having distinct functions. Critical to developing a reproducible methodology for the generation of murine T cell clones is the fact that all T cell proliferation ultimately requires the interaction of interleukin-2 (IL-2) with its receptor (IL-2R) on the T cell surface. In this regard, two phenotypic characteristics of T cells are presented. The first bears upon the variable requirement for the addition to the culture medium of exogenous IL-2 as a growth factor for the propagation of T cell clones. Some T cell clones of both L3T4+ Lyt2- and L3T4- Lyt2 + phenotypes have the capacity to produce their own IL-2 following antigen activation and thus can be maintained in vitro by serial stimulation with appropriate antigen in the absence of exogenous growth factors. Among clones of this type, ones find that L3T4+ cells generally produce greater amounts of IL-2 than Lyt2 + clones. Other T cell clones manifest an absolute requirement for the addition of an exogenous source.