Distinct helper activities control growth or maturation of B lymphocytes

A clone (C-11) of C3H/HeJ Lyt-1+2-T cells with specificity for "minor" antigens of C3H/Tif has been isolated which, in contrast to other similarly derived clones, did not activate polyclonal plaque-forming cell (PFC) responses in T cell-depleted "target" spleen cells. This clone, however, showed unaltered proliferative responses to the naturally occurring antigen(s) on presenting cells, and strongly synergized with regular helper clones in the induction of PFC responses. Further analysis demonstrated that C-11 cells are competent to stimulate extensive "target" B cell proliferation, but lack the ability to produce (or participate in the production of) maturation factors for activated B cells. Thus, the defective PFC responses could be fully reconstituted with supernatants from regular clones stimulated with antigen, but not by supernatants prepared from the C-11 cells themselves. While it is not clear whether this clone represents a normal helper T cell subpopulation or a variant that has lost maturation-factor production, these results demonstrate that distinct factors control growth and maturation in T cell-dependent B lymphocyte responses.