Isolation of T cell line capable of protecting mice against collagen-induced arthritis

A T cell line specific to human type II collagen (CII) was selected and propagated from DBA/1J mice immunized with human CII. The line cells were not reactive to type I or type III collagen of human origin, but they were cross-reactive to bovine, rat, and rabbit CII and they recognized both native and heat-denatured human CII. The cells were reactive to an N-terminal three-quarters fragment of human CII, produced by tadpole collagenase digestion of human CII, but not to a C-terminal one-quarter fragment of human CII. The cells showed Thy-1+, Lyt-1+, Lyt-2-, and L3T4+ phenotypes characteristic of T helper cells or delayed-type hypersensitive cells, determined by the immunofluorescence method. To clarify the role of T cells in the pathogenesis of collagen-induced arthritis, we inoculated this cell line into DBA/1J mice and found that they developed clinical arthritis, albeit at a low incidence. The cells attenuated by x-ray were capable of inducing resistance to the subsequent induction of collagen-induced arthritis of DBA/1J mice. The sera from mice protected by inoculation of the cell line exhibited anti-idiotypic antibody response against conventional and monoclonal anti-CII antibodies. Anti-T cell receptor response may be involved in the mechanism for the protective effect of the cell line against autoimmune murine arthritis.