T cell proliferation in the mixed lymphocyte culture does not necessarily result in the generation of cytotoxic T effector cells.

It was tested whether T lymphocytes, when stimulated in vitro by M locus-coded lymphocyte activating determinants (LAD), are able to mediate cytotoxic effector functions. The assay for cytotoxicity included both the use of purified appropriate target cells (i.e. purified lipopolysaccharide blasts) as well as the use of phytohemagglutinin dependent cytolysis as a model for detecting cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Although strong proliferative responses were obtained in the mixed lymphocyte culture, the T cell blast generated did not display any detectable cytotoxic effector function. Thus, it is concluded that LAD, at least in the M locus-dependent system, do have the capacity to induce T cell proliferation but do not induce CTL.