Evidence for covert cellular interaction sites expressed by activated T lymphocytes.

In this report we examined the effects of trypsin treatment of immune guinea pig T lymphocytes on their binding to syngeneic macrophages. Immune T cells positively selected by culture for 1 wk with antigen and treated with trypsin showed dramatic binding to macrophages in the absence of additional antigen. This binding was rapid and greatest at 1 hr after the addition of trypsin-treated T cells to macrophages. Thereafter, the bound T cells dissociated from the macrophages and did not rebind. Dissociation of macrophage-bound T cells appeared to be an active process that could be inhibited by blocking T cell protein synthesis. Macrophage binding by trypsin-treated T cells was dependent on prior in vitro stimulation; similar treatment of immune T cells taken directly from the animal did not augment binding, and treatment of T cells cultured without antigen resulted in only modest binding. In addition, the trypsin-induced binding phenomenon showed elements of genetic restrictions. Trypsin treatment of immune T cells selected by culture for 1 wk with antigen resulted in preferential binding to syngeneic macrophages. In addition, immune F1 T cells selected by culture with antigen-pulsed parental macrophages preferentially bound to macrophages of the haplotype used for selection. Evidence is presented suggesting that the trypsin-induced binding was not simply due to antigen carry-over from the trypsinized lymphocytes and favoring the possibility that this binding may be antigen-independent. These results suggest that antigen-activated T cells express covert interaction sites for macrophages and that these sites are actively covered-up by other membrane components.