Detection of A t-complex antigen by secondary cell-mediated lymphocytotoxicity.

Because of the inconsistency in published results concerning the serological detection of cell surface antigens coded for by the t-complex, a cell-mediated lymphocytotoxicity (CML) assay, secondary CML, was used in a search for t-antigens. By sensitizing C3H.Ttf (C3H.Brachyury, tufted) with the congenic strain C3H.Ttf/tw18 splenic cells, a response against lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated splenic cells from C3H.Ttf/tw18 mice is obtained. The locus coding for the antigen detected by this reaction lies to the left of tf on the murine seventeenth chromosome. The secondary CML response to this antigen is H-2 restricted and detects an antigen on all t-haplotypes tested: tw18, tw18tf, t12, t6, th2tf, and tw5.