Further characterization of IgM antibodies against maternal alloreactive T cells produced by cloned Epstein Barr virus-transformed cord B cells.

The mother obviously recognizes the fetus as an antigen, and the fetus is protected from the maternal immunologic attacks by eliciting anti-alloreactive T cell antibodies (T lymphocytotoxic human fetal antibody; TLFA). TLFA contains several antibodies against the maternal cells. It is thus necessary for further understanding of TLFA to obtain a single antibody from EBV-transformed cord B cells. EBV-transformations were performed in 28 cord B cell samples, and 16 cell lines were established. Antibody-binding assays of the cloned fetal IgM antibodies were performed by the respective maternal T cells grown in secondary mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) stimulated by the paternal non-T cells and the maternal long-term culture killer T cells (LCT) in three different families. There were two types of cloned antibodies as identified by their binding to the respective maternal MLC responding T cells and the LCT. Their functions were further analyzed by the maternal MLC and lymphocytotoxic assays by using maternal-paternal cell combinations from the three families. One type of antibody inhibited the maternal MLC T cell proliferation (% inhibition: up to 28.2%, p less than 0.01), and the other inhibited the killer activity of the maternal LCT (% inhibition: up to 45.2%, p less than 0.001). Such a fetomaternal interaction bears perhaps on the fundamental mechanism whereby the mother does not reject the fetus.