Selective inhibition of T suppressor-cell function by a monosaccharide

Abstract

Interactions between regulatory T lymphocytes and other cells are assumed to occur at the level of the cell surface. T cells which suppress the generation of specifically effector cells have been described as having antigenic, idiotypic, allotypic and I-region specificity^1–4. Other T suppressor cells generated by in vitro cultivation with or without mitogenic stimulation^5,6 have suppressive activity for T and B cells but no specificity can be assigned to them. These T suppressor cells (T_s) inhibit various lymphoid functions—this either reflects their polyclonal origin or indicates that the structures recognized by the T_s receptors must be common for many cell types. Carbohydrates on cell membrane-inserted glycoproteins or glycolipids might function as specific ligands for recognition by cellular receptors or soluble factors. Almost all cell-surface proteins of mammalian cells are glycosylated. There is evidence for lectin-like carbohydrate binding proteins not only in plants⁷ but also in toxins⁸, viruses⁹, prokaryotic cells¹⁰ and even mammalian cells, including T cells¹¹. A functional role for these lectin-like proteins has been described for slime moulds and suggested for the selective association of embryonic cells^12,13. We report here that addition of a monosaccharide can counteract the effect of T suppressor cells during the generation of alloreactive cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) in vitro.