Genetics of human T cell-monocyte interaction in helper cell induction

The generation of human antigen-specific helper cells from unprimed peripheral blood lymphoid cells in tissue culture requires the presence of the appropriate number of blood monocytes. The role of the HLA complex in this cell interaction was investigated, by using HLA-type donors, and it was found that the monocytes had to share at least one HLA-DR specificity with the T cell donor. These experiments suggested that the genes controlling the macrophage-T cell interaction are closely associated or in linkage disequilibrium with the HLA-DR region.