T3 surface molecules on adult T cell leukemia cells are modulated in vivo.

Cells from eight patients with adult T cell leukemia (ATL) and from four patients with non-ATL were examined to see if the T3 antigen of these cells could be modulated in vitro. We found a low density of T3 antigen and the presence of Tac antigen on cells from all patients with ATL. The density of T3 antigen on non-ATL cells was normal, and Tac antigen was not detected. Modulation of T3 antigen and an increase in Tac antigen-positive cells occurred when cells from patients with T4 non-ATL were cultured with OKT3 monoclonal antibody (mAb). Those changes in T3 antigen density and the appearance of Tac antigen-bearing cells by OKT3 mAb were not so marked when ATL cells were used. But the modulation of T3 antigen and the increase in Tac antigen-bearing cells by OKT3 mAb were closely related in cells from six ATL patients. These findings suggest that T3 T cell antigen receptor complexes on ATL cells are not functionally "frozen" by leukemic changes and might be modulated in vivo. In addition, modulation of T3 surface antigen on ATL cells was not induced by cultivation with human T cell leukemia virus type I particles and envelope proteins obtained by gene technology.