The passive transfer of
contact sensitivity (CS) by immune cells into normal animals requires the interaction of two distinct Ly-1+ T cells, one which is
Vicia villosa lectin (VV)-nonadherent, the other which adheres to VV. Functional deletion of either cell type abrogates the adoptive transfer of CS into normal animals, whereas VV-nonadherent cells alone can transfer CS into animals pretreated with
cyclophosphamide (Cy). An
antigen-specific T suppressor factor, designated TNP-
TsF, inhibits the transfer of CS into normal adoptive recipients. TNP-
TsF mediates its suppressive activity by inducing an I-J+ subfactor (designated I-J2) from the assay population by the interaction of PC1-F (a TNP-binding subfactor of TNP-
TsF) with
antigen-primed Ly-2+ T cells. This I-J+ subfactor then complements TNBS-F (an
antigen-nonbinding subfactor of TNP-
TsF) to form an
antigen-nonspecific effector molecule which suppresses DTH responses in an
antigen-nonspecific fashion. We report here that TNP-
TsF suppresses the adoptive transfer of CS into normal animals but not into animals pretreated with Cy. TNBS-F + I-J2, the effector complex of TNP-
TsF, also suppresses the transfer of CS into normal but not Cy-treated animals. When the Ly-1 immune cells were separated into VV-adherent and -nonadherent populations, the TNBS-F + I-J2 suppressor complex suppressed the functional activity of the VV-adherent cell population, but not the VV-nonadherent cells. This suppressive activity correlates with the need for VV-adherent cells in the transfer of CS into normal but not Cy-treated recipients. When an I-J+ molecule (I-J1) from an SRBC-specific
TsF was used in place of I-J2 to form a suppressor complex with TNBS-F, this TNBS-F + I-J1
TsF suppressed the transfer of CS into both normal and Cy-treated recipients. This difference in functional suppressive activity correlated with a difference in target cell specificity: TNBS-F + I-J1 suppressed the VV-nonadherent TDTH cell, whereas TNBS-F + I-J2 suppressed the VV-adherent T cell of CS. Immune cells which are transferred under conditions which do not require the VV-adherent cell for transfer are not suppressed by TNBS-F + I-J2 or TNP-
TsF, but are suppressed by the TNBS-F + I-J1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)