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Antigen-specific T cell suppressor factor (TsF): isolation of a cDNA clone encoding for a functional polypeptide

Insights

This study identified that phosphorylcholine (PC)-specific T cell suppressor factor (TsF) is composed of at least two distinct polypeptide chains. The research isolated cDNA clones encoding these components, revealing the molecular basis of TsF activity.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Suppressor T cells play a crucial role in immune regulation.
  • Phosphorylcholine (PC)-specific suppressor T cell factor (TsF) activity needs further molecular characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify and characterize the molecular components of PC-specific TsF.
  • To elucidate the subunit composition of the PC-TsF molecule.

Main Methods:

  • Construction of a cDNA library from PC-specific suppressor T hybridoma 29-C-6.
  • Differential colony hybridization to screen for relevant cDNA clones.
  • Hybridization-translation assays to assess TsF activity of translation products.

Main Results:

  • Identified cDNA clones p6-1 and p6-5 whose combined translation products exhibited PC-TsF activity.
  • Demonstrated that p6-5 specific mRNA depletion abolished TsF activity, which could be restored by adding back p6-5 mRNA.
  • Sequence analysis indicated p6-5 contains an 800 bp cDNA sequence, while p6-1 contains a poly(A) sequence insert.

Conclusions:

  • PC-TsF is composed of at least two distinct polypeptide chains.
  • cDNA clone p6-5 encodes one of the polypeptide chains essential for PC-TsF activity.

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