T-lymphocyte clones responsive to Shigella flexneri

T lymphocytes from a patient with Shigella flexneri dysentery and postdysenteric reactive arthritis were cloned by limiting dilution with recombinant interleukin-2 and a strain of S. flexneri different from that which had infected her. Five of eight clones produced proliferated in response to the shigellae used to generate the clones. The response required irradiated syngeneic blood mononuclear cells as antigen-presenting cells. One such clone, MC12, proliferated in response to both the shigellae used to generate the clones and the infecting shigellae but not to other shigellae, Salmonella heidelberg, or control Escherichia coli. MC12 was CD3+, CD4+, CD8-, and human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR+. The proliferative response to the shigellae was blocked by antibody to HLA-DR but not by antibody to HLA-A,B,C. The response required antigen-presenting cells that shared HLA-DR antigens with the clone and appeared to be restricted by HLA-DR2. The epitope recognized by MC12 was associated with the bacterial membranes. Thus, T-lymphocyte clones that proliferate in response to some shigellae can be isolated from patients with shigellosis.