Regulation of in vivo immunological reactions by monoclonal antibody against lymphocyte activation antigen

In vivo effects of a monoclonal antibody that recognizes rat lymphocyte activation antigen were studied. Spleen cells obtained from sheep red blood cell (SRBC)-immunized rats developed strong PFC response against SRBC. However, the 5C6-F4 treatment resulted in the inhibition of subsequent development of PFC response. The suppression of PFC response was due to the inhibition of generation of helper T cells, but not due to the preferential induction of suppressor cells. In addition, 5C6-F4 antibody was also found to inhibit the clinical expression of collagen-induced rat arthritis and the synovial inflammation in collagen-induced arthritis rats. Furthermore, the in vivo generation of cytotoxic cells against syngeneic tumor cells was also inhibited by 5C6-F4 antibody. The in vivo administration of 5C6-F4 antibody did not cause any pathological changes in brain, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes.