Idiotype-specific T suppressor factor alternatively interacts with a nonspecific T-acceptor-like cell to mediate immune suppression.
The ability of the idiotype (Id)-specific second-order T suppressor factor (TsF2) to interact with a final effector Ts cell type other than the previously reported third-order Ts (Ts3) subset was studied in the phenyltrimethylamino (TMA) hapten system. Hence, mice were primed with unrelated heterologous haptens to induce the nonspecific T acceptor (Tacc) cells following published procedures. When enriched T cell populations containing these nonspecific Ts were briefly incubated in vitro with TMA-TsF2, they produced suppression upon adoptive transfer into cyclophosphamide-treated mice which had been previously immunized for TMA-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity. Despite the fact that the effector population studied in this report also required Id-binding TsF2 for its function, it differs markedly from the Ts3 subset studied previously in the TMA system. First, the cell type studied herein could be easily generated with noncrossreacting heterologous chemically reactive haptens when applied directly to the skin of mice. Furthermore, these Ts effector cells had no detectable intrinsic receptors for homologous haptens and most importantly, unlike Ts3, this population had no affinity for the TMA hapten. Nevertheless, the nonspecifically induced Ts once activated by TsF2 suppresses TMA-directed, but not similar immune responses specific for heterologous haptens. Thus the results indicate that TsF2 can functionally interact with a final effector Ts subset (very similar to the Tacc) other than the well described Ts3 population. The ramifications of these findings are discussed with reference to a generalized view of the cellular basis of terminal phases of immune suppression.