Genetic control of the murine cell-mediated immune response in vivo. II. H-2 linked responsiveness to the synthetic polypeptide poly(Tyr,Glu)-poly(DL-Ala)--poly(Lys).

Cell-mediated immunity in response to (T,G)-A-L was studied with a radioisotopic footpad assay. It appears that in vivo cell-mediated immune responsiveness to (T,G)-A--L is linked to the H-2 complex, as was demonstrated previously for specific antibody snythesis. Evidence is presented in this report which indicates that the cell-mediated immunity measured is a function of a population of T cells. The apparent controversy between results obtained by analyzing antibody formation and cell-mediated immunity can be explained by assuming the need for cell cooperation between helper T cell and effector T cell, because efficient purely cellular immunity is analogous to T-B cell cooperation needed for antibody production.