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. 1979 Dec 1;150(6):1510–1519. doi: 10.1084/jem.150.6.1510

Continuous proliferation of murine antigen-specific helper T lymphocytes in culture

PMCID: PMC2185732  PMID: 92524

Abstract

Murine helper T cells activated to sheep or horse erythrocyte antigens in vivo have been established as continuous cell lines in culture. T cells require the presence of a T-cell growth factor (TCGF) for continuous proliferation. TCGF purified from murine, rat, or human sources all stimulate murine T-cell growth. The T-cell mitogens concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin do not stimulate cell proliferation in continuous T-cell lines. All cells that grow in the presence of TCGF express Thy-1 antigens. Helper activity of T-cell lines is both antigen specific and effective for syngeneic or F1 B cells. Supernates from T-cell lines do not contain antigen-specific or nonspecific helper factors. Although several T-cell lines have shown stable helper activity for greater than 50 wk in culture, other cell lines have shown a gradual decline in effector function. The procedure used to establish and maintain proliferation of T cells in culture should be suitable for the selection and growth of antigen-specific effector T cells from each subclass.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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