Robert S. Goodenow

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes recognize determinants on the BALB/c-H-2Ld molecule controlled by α1 and α2 but not α3 external domains

We have shown that cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) raised in H-2dmice use H-2Ld but not H-2Dd or H-2Kd antigens as restricting elements in lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and vesicular stomatis virus (VSV) infections. To localize the regions of H-2Ld protein recognized by CTL, we constructed a recombinant H-2Ld/Ddgene encoding a hybrid antigen with α1 and α2 external domains of H-2Ld and α3, transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of H-2Dd. The recombinant gene was transfected into mouse cells and the hybrid molecules were characterized serologically, biochemically and functionally. In all assays, H-2Ld/Dd molecules were recognized by LCMV- and VSV-specific H-2Ld-restricted CTL in a manner similar to that of wild-type H-2Ld antigens. Analogous results were obtained with alloreactive CTL. Hybrid antigens containing the α3 domain of H-2Ld fused to α1 and α2 domains of a Qa-2,3 region-encoded antigen were not used as restricting elements by LCMV-specific CTL. These results suggest that H-2Ld-restricted CTL directed against LCMV and VSV recognize determinants controlled by the α1 and/or α2 domains of the H-2Ld molecule.

The promoter of the long terminal repeat of feline leukemia virus is effective for expression of a mouse H-2 histocompatibility gene in mouse and human cells.

DNA-mediated gene transfer techniques have been used to study the effectiveness of a novel construction involving the feline leukemia virus long terminal repeat (FeLV LTR) for expressing the mouse H-2 Ld gene in mouse and human cells. In this construction, the transcription initiation (promoter) and termination (polyadenylation) functions of the FeLV LTR have been split by insertion of a promoterless H-2 gene between them. An S1 nuclease assay has been developed that makes it possible to measure accumulated LdRNA against a background of endogenous major histocompatibility antigen RNAs in mouse and human cells. In mouse cells, the H-2 Ld gene was expressed at approximately equal levels (measured as accumulated RNA) when driven either by its own promoter or by the FeLV LTR construction. In human cells, expression at the RNA level was highest when driven by the FeLV LTR. We conclude that the FeLV LTR construction is useful for expressing foreign genes in human cells.