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Human Fetal/Neonatal Suppressor Activity: Relation Between OKT Phenotypes and Sensitivity to Prostaglandin E 2 in Maternal and Neonatal Lymphocytes
Author(s) -
PAPADOGIANNAKIS NIKOS,
JOHNSEN SVENDAAGE,
OLDING LARS B.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american journal of reproductive immunology and microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1600-0897
pISSN - 8755-8920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0897.1985.tb00287.x
Subject(s) - monoclonal antibody , suppressor , fetus , t cell , cord , biology , immunology , t lymphocyte , medicine , endocrinology , microbiology and biotechnology , andrology , antibody , immune system , pregnancy , genetics , cancer , surgery
T lymphocytes from human fetuses and newborns strongly and spontaneously suppress various adult cell functions (i.e. T‐cell proliferation, B‐cell differentiation, and Ig synthesis). The precise phenotype of the suppressor cell is controversial. In this investigation we use cord T‐cell subsets negatively selected by the panning technique or by complement‐mediated lysis using the monoclonal antibodies OKT4 and OKT8. Cord T cells deprived of the OKT4 + subpopulation exerted only a marginal suppressor activity (12 ± 7 as compared to 73 ± 4% of unfractionated T cells) on the proliferation of maternal cells in our PHA‐stimulated co‐culture assay using sex chromosomes as markers for dividing cord (male) and maternal cells. The suppressive effect was direct, i.e. not mediated by induction of maternal OKT8 + suppressor effector cells. Cord and maternal T‐cell subsets were also tested for their sensitivity to exogenous prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) at doses varying between 1.4 × 10 −5 and 1.4 × 10 −9 M. Both maternal OKT4 − and OKT8 − T‐cell subsets were highly sensitive to suppression by PGE 2 . In contrast, cord OKT8 − T cells were essentially nonsensitive at all doses of PGE 2 used, whereas cord OKT4 − T cells were significantly suppressed at four out of five concentrations tested (1.4 × 10 −6 through 1.4 × 10 −9 ). Our results suggest a direct correlation between the phenotypes of the cord‐suppressor and maternal‐target T cells and their sensitivity to PGE 2 .