Binding of radiation leukemia viruses to a thymic lymphoma involves some class I molecules on the T cell as well as the T cell receptor complex.

Radiation leukemia virus (RadLV)-induced thymomas and malignant thymocytes from AKR mice have been shown to bind specifically retrovirus produced by these cell lines. Each lymphoma has been shown to have greatest specificity for cognate virus suggestive of an immune-specific receptor. The question of receptor identity has been addressed here using the RadLV-induced murine T cell lymphoma, C6VL/1, and antibodies specific for known cell surface determinants present on these cells. This lymphoma has been shown to bind both homologous and heterologous RadLV isolates, but to have greatest specificity for homologous retrovirus since homologous free virions can best block the interaction between cells and virus adhered to the wells of a microtitre plate. A clonotypic anti-TCR antibody has been shown to completely inhibit C6VL/1 binding to the homologous virus, RadLV/C6VL, but not to the heterologous virus, RadLV/VL3. Anti-CD4, anti-Thy1.2 as well as anti-H-2Kb and not anti-H-2Db antibodies were found to partially inhibit the interaction with both RadLV/C6VL and RadLV/VL3, yet neither of these virus preparations appears to be contaminated with Class I molecules as measured by radioimmunoassay. The binding interaction between C6VL/1 and RadLV/C6VL appears specifically to involve the TCR since antibody against the clonotypic site on the TCR heterodimer uniquely inhibits this interaction, while the binding of C6VL/1 to RadLV/VL3 appears to involve the H-2Kb molecule. When free virus particles were absorbed to receptors on C6VL/1, both RadLV/VL3 and RadLV/C6VL inhibited the binding of antibody to the TCR and CD4 molecules, while the binding of several anti-H-2Kb antibodies was specifically inhibited by RadLV/VL3. There are at least two known T cell surface structures involved in the interaction of the T cell lymphoma, C6VL/1, with RadLV. These are the TCR complex (comprising the TCR heterodimer and CD4), and the Class I H-2Kb molecule. Since the TCR molecule has been shown to comodulate with H-2Kb molecules when cells were cultured in the presence of anti-H-2Kb antibodies, and the CD4 and H-2Kb molecules have been shown to comodulate with the TCR on only a subpopulation of C6VL/1 cells treated with anti-TCR antibody, this suggests that the H-2Kb molecule may also be part of the larger molecular complex including CD4/8 which can form around the TCR heterodimer.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)