Antigen-dependent physical interaction between human monocytes and T lymphocytes.

The physical interaction between human monocytes and autologous T lymphocytes was studied in cultures of cells from tuberculin-sensitive individuals to which purified protein derivative of tuberculin had been added. Such cultures displayed formation of cell aggregates, each typically consisting of one or two monocytes to which several lymphocytes adhered by means of uropods. The capacity of monocyte-T-lymphocyte mixtures to produce this type of aggregate in response to tuberculin correlated with the tuberculin sensitivity of the cell donor as measured by skin test.