Cooperative cross-linking between two sets of membrane receptors: a model for B and T lymphocyte collaboration in immune response.

A molecular mechanism for B and T lymphocyte collaboration is proposed. Two sets of polivalent receptors, each one on a cell type, would interact with different epitopes of the antigen, resulting in a cross-linking of the receptors as the initial step in B lymphocyte activation. The mechanism can explain many known featrues of humoral immune response and accords with experimental findings on the blast transformation of B lymphocytes.