Previous studies have shown that supernatants from
concanavalin A-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and isolated Leu-2 suppressor/cytotoxic T cells are chemotactic for Leu-3 helper/inducer T cells. The current study shows that
lymphocyte chemotactic factor (LCF) is also produced following
antigen (
tetanus toxoid) challenge of mononuclear cells obtained from recently immunized human donors. LCF was detected in 24-hr supernatants from mononuclear cells challenged with
tetanus and was produced maximally at 48 hr.
Tetanus toxoid challenge of mononuclear cells obtained from individuals whom had not received a
tetanus immunization for 7 to 10 years prior to testing showed little or no production of LCF. Serial studies of these individuals following a
tetanus booster immunization showed that LCF was produced by
antigen-challenged mononuclear cells obtained 1-5 days postimmunization, was produced optimally 5-15 days postimmunization, and was still produced by
antigen-challenged mononuclear cells obtained 6 weeks later. Fractionation of mononuclear cells from immunized donors into glass wool nonadherent lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, and non-T lymphocytes showed that
tetanus-toxoid-induced LCF was produced by nonadherent lymphocytes and T cells but not non-T cells. Further fractionation of T lymphocytes into Leu-2 and Leu-3 T-cell subpopulations showed that LCF production by
antigen-challenged isolated subpopulations was limited to the Leu-2 suppressor/cytotoxic T-cell subset. Characterization of both Con A and
tetanus toxoid-induced LCF by gel filtration on
Sephadex G-100 demonstrated the presence of two peaks of LCF corresponding to molecular weights of approximately 14,000-17,000 and 40,000-50,000.