A UNIQUE PATTERN OF LYMPHOKINE SYNTHESIS IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF CERTAIN ANTIGEN-SPECIFIC SUPPRESSOR T-CELL CLONES

We report that the lymphokines (IFN-gamma) and IL-10 are co-synthesized by previously described CD3+ TCRalphabeta+, minor antigen-specific suppressor T cell clones, IFN-gamma, and IL-10 are known to (i) be characteristically produced by different helper T cell types, T(h)2 and T(h)2 respectively, and (ii) inhibit the function of the reciprocal subset of T cells: IFN-gamma inhibits the function of T(h)2 and IL-10 that of T(h)1 cells. Although T(h)0 cells are also known to synthesize cytokines of both the T(h)1- and T(h)2-type T cells, the suppressor T cells described in this report are different from T(h)0 cells in that they produce (i) neither IL-2 nor IL-4 molecules and (ii) stimulation via their CD3 - TCR system seems independent of both IL-2 and IL-4, the typical autocrine molecules for T cell proliferation. The lymphokine profile of these suppressor T (T(s)) cell clones, as well as those of human antigen-specific T(s) cells reported earlier, suggests that co-synthesis of some T(h)1-like and some T(h)2-like cytokines may be a characteristic of antigen-specific T(s) cells as opposed to the type of reciprocal inhibition mediated through IFN-gamma or IL-10, which is antigen non-specific.