IL-2-dependent proliferation of thymic accessory cells.

Phagocytic cells of the thymic reticulum are Ia-positive accessory cells continuously produced in long term thymic stroma cultures. We show in the present paper that phagocytic cells of the thymic reticulum have R for IL-2. They share this property with splenic accessory cells produced in vitro by the same technique but have the unique property of proliferating in the presence of rIL-2. This proliferation is not enhanced by Con-A, is not linked to a lymphoid contaminant, and is specifically inhibited by an anti-IL-2R mAb.