PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Urbanski, M
AU  - Cone, R E
TI  - Appearance of T lymphocyte-derived proteins specific for the immunizing antigen in serum during a humoral immune response.
DP  - 1992 May 01
TA  - The Journal of Immunology
PG  - 2840--2844
VI  - 148
IP  - 9
4099  - http://www.jimmunol.org/content/148/9/2840.short
4100  - http://www.jimmunol.org/content/148/9/2840.full
SO  - J. Immunol.1992 May 01; 148
AB  - Some T lymphocytes produce extracellular proteins that bind nominal antigen specifically (TABM), and these proteins exhibit potent immunoregulatory activity. We have utilized an ELISA for Ag binding by Ag-specific TABM to detect and quantitate the appearance of Ag-specific TABM in murine serum during a humoral Ir to protein Ag. The TABM response was specific for the inducing Ag, stronger and more rapid during a secondary response, and temporally distinct from the appearance of Ig. The non-Ig serum TABM were bound by mAb specific for TCR-alpha chains and isolated by affinity for Ag were Mr 110,000 polypeptides. The TABM response did not occur in scid/scid mice unless the mice were reconstituted with thymocytes and thymocyte-reconstituted scid/scid mice produced TABM, but did not produce Ig. The results suggest that soluble TABM are an Ag-specific humoral manifestation of the Ir of some T lymphocytes.