TCGF III/P40 is produced by naive murine CD4+ T cells but is not a general T cell growth factor

Several antigen-specific T cell lines were found to secrete a lymphokine upon activation by antigen or lectin that was provisionally termed T cell growth factor III (TCGF III) because it induced the proliferation of a CD4+ T cell clone independently from IL2 and IL4. Amino acid sequence analysis (and the functional properties of TCGF III) revealed that TCGF III was identical with a recently identified lymphokine termed P40. TCGF III/P40 was not only produced by long-term cultured T cell lines but also upon stimulation of freshly isolated Mlsa-reactive T cells. In addition, naive CD4+ T cells secreted TCGF III/P40 upon activation by lectin or allo-major histocompatibility complex structures. However, in spite of its growth-promoting activity for a CD4+ T cell clone this lymphokine does not appear to function as a general growth factor for T cells.