Heterogeneity of lymphokine production by murine T-lymphocyte clones.

The production of lymphokines by alloreactive murine T-lymphocyte clones was investigated. Clones derived by limiting dilution or by micromanipulation were stimulated with T-cell-depleted irradiated allogeneic spleen cells, and the resulting supernatants were assayed for interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (gamma-IFN), macrophage-activating factor (MAF), B-cell helper factor (BHF) or granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Lymphokine production was found to be heterogeneous at the clonal level, with both cytolytic and non-cytolytic clones being able to produce some (or all) of the factors tested. Comparison of a large number of independently derived clonal supernatants allowed the separation of IL-2, BHF and GM-CSF from each other and from MAF and gamma-IFN; however, no dissociation between the latter 2 lymphokines was observed.