Human T cell lines differing in phenotype and specificity are reactive with the same anti-idiotypic antibody

3D6, a monoclonal antibody selected for reactivity with the T cell antigen receptor on the T leukemic cell line HPB-ALL, was found to react with 3 to 13% of peripheral blood T lymphocytes of 10 out of 15 normal donors. Peripheral T cells of two donors were stimulated with allogeneic cells, and the 3D6+ cells were enriched by rosetting 3D6-coated cells with goat anti-mouse-coupled human red blood cells and were expanded in interleukin 2-containing medium. In this way, 90 to 100% 3D6+ cell lines were obtained that were cytotoxic for the allogeneic stimulator cells. 3D6 antibody could block antigen-specific cytotoxicity, as well as induce nonspecific cytotoxicity toward target cells that could not be killed in the absence of the 3D6 antibody. The 3D6+ cell populations contained T4+, as well as T8+ cells, indicating that 3D6 antibody defined a T cell receptor population that might harbor various antigenic specificities. One 3D6+ cell line was separated into T4+ T8- and T4- T8+ populations. 3D6 reactive T cell receptors isolated from HPB-ALL and normal cell lines were analyzed biochemically by means of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing, and V8 protease peptide mapping. Isoelectric focusing analysis provided additional evidence for the idea that 3D6 antibody detected a number of structurally distinct T cell receptors, because the T cell receptor alpha-chain was homogeneous in charge after desialation on the clonal tumor line HPB-ALL, but remained heterogeneous in charge on the 3D6+ normal cell lines. No great differences in charge were found between T cell receptors isolated from T4+ and T8+ 3D6+ lines, but their isoelectric focusing patterns were not identical. V8 protease peptide mapping revealed structural differences between the T cell receptor alpha-chain isolated from HPB-ALL on one hand and from the normal 3D6+ lines on the other, whereas the beta-chains did not differ greatly in primary structure according to this analysis. In addition, the peptide mapping suggested differences in primary structure between T cell receptors present on the T4+ population vs those present on the T8+ populations.