Characterization of a receptor on activated chicken T cells

Chicken lymphoblasts were generated from spleen cells which had been incubated with concanavalin A (Con A) for 48 h. Monoclonal antibodies were produced by immunizing mice with 48-h Con A lymphoblasts. The cellular ELISA, with lymphoblasts and spleen cells as the target cells, was used to select for specific monoclonal antibodies. A monoclonal antibody was found to have strong response against the lymphoblasts but not resting spleen cells. By immunofluorescence staining, this monoclonal antibody reacted strongly with lymphoblasts and did not react with resting spleen cells. This monoclonal antibody was also shown to inhibit the lymphokine activity present in conditioned medium (CM) which was collected from 24-h cultures of Con-A-activated spleen cells. In immunoprecipitation, this monoclonal antibody precipitated a lymphoblast surface antigen with a molecular weight of about 45 kDa.