Activation requirements for antigen- and mitogen-induced interferon-gamma release from cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

We have studied the activation signals that regulate interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion from murine cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) upon binding mitogen or antigen. CTL clones were found to require at least 1 hr of stimulation with concanavalin A (Con A) in order to produce detectable levels of IFN-gamma. Full activation of IFN-gamma synthesis in CTL clones occurred after stimulation for 2 hr or more, and in those cultures CTL continued to produce high levels of IFN-gamma even after the effects of Con A had been neutralized. Splenic T cells and uncloned long-term CTL lines required a longer period of stimulation than cloned CTL for Con A-induced IFN-gamma secretion. The relationship between IFN-gamma secretion and cytotoxic activity was studied in an antigen-specific system. These studies reveal marked differences in the types of effector responses generated by CTL upon contact with antigen, demonstrating that some antigen-bearing cells promote high levels of IFN-gamma secretion and are poorly lysed by CTL, whereas other cell lines are lysed with high efficiency by CTL but induce low levels of IFN-gamma secretion.