Cell interactions in the immune system: the role of self recognition in the targeting of nonspecific effector molecules by helper T cells.

Helper T cells are activated by cross-linking of their receptors by antigen:Ia complexes on the surface of antigen-presenting cells and B cells. As a result of this cross-linking, the helper T cell releases several lymphokines that in turn affect the Ia-bearing cell with which the helper T cell is in contact. This interaction is cognate when the effect on the target cell is examined, but it operates by a mechanism that is neither antigen specific nor MHC restricted. Whether the cognate nature of this interaction reflects solely the intimate contact of the T cell with the Ia antigen-bearing cell or whether it reflects a receptor-directed focal release of lymphokines remains to be determined. The molecular basis for functional diversity in helper T cells will have to be determined by examining the factors that regulate lymphokine gene expression in such cells, a process that appears to act at several levels.