Suppressor T cells control the HLA-linked low responsiveness to streptococcal antigen in man.

We have previously reported that low immune responsiveness to the streptococcal cell wall (SCW) antigen is controlled by an HLA-linked dominant gene which we designated as an immune suppression gene to the SCW antigen (Is-SCW) without knowing its function. We have extended the study of the genetic control of the immune response to the SCW antigen and confirmed both the bimodal distribution of immune responsiveness and HLA-linked dominant inheritance of low responsiveness. Here we report an analysis of the function and expression of Is-SCW at the cellular level and demonstrate that the Is-SCW controls the generation of antigen-specific suppressor T cell in low responders.