The histocompatibility restrictions on macrophage T-helper cell interaction determine the histocompatibility restrictions on T-helper cell B-cell interaction.

To study the histocompatibility restriction between macrophages and helper T cells, carrier primed guinea pig T cells were positively selected in vitro with antigenpulsed macrophages for 7 days and the selected T cells were then mixed with hapten-primed B cells and stimulated with antigen in a modified Mishell-Dutton system. Helper T cells could only be selected with syngeneic, but not allogeneic, antigen-pulsed macrophages and would then collaborate only with syngeneic, but not allogeneic, hapten-primed spleen cells. When F1 T cells were selected with antigen-pulsed parental macrophages they would only collaborate with B cells of the same parental strain as the macrophages used in the selection culture. These results are strongly in support of the view that the primed T cell is activated by carrier determinants of the nominal antigen in association with Ia antigens on macrophages and the helper T cell, in turn, activates B cells which bear the same Ia antigens and determinants of the nominal antigen bound to immunoglobulin receptors on their surface. In addition, in experiments with antigens the response to which is controlled by I-linked genes, we demonstrated that primed (responder X nonresponder)F1 T cells would only collaborate with B cells of the responder parent. The defect appeared to be at the level of the B cell in that the addition to the cultures of antigen-presenting cells of the responder type did not restore the ability of F1 T cells to collaborate with non-responder B cells.