T cells which do not express membrane tumor necrosis factor-α activate macrophage effector function by cell contact-dependent signaling of macrophage tumor necrosis factor-α production

Previous studies have suggested that T cell contact-dependent signaling of macrophages (MΦ) is mediated by membrane tumor necrosis factor-α (memTNF-α), based on the observation that anti-TNF-α could inhibit T cell-mediated MΦ activation. The current report confirms that anti-TNF-α does inhibit activation of interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-primed MΦ by paraformaldehyde-fixed activated T cells. However, the involvement of membrane molecules other than memTNF-α in the contact-dependent signaling is suggested by two lines of evidence. First, the T_H2 clone, AK8, displayed neither secreted TNF-α/β nor memTNF-α/β detectable by bioassay or immunofluorescence. Nonetheless, AK8 cells were equally effective, on a per cell basis, in contact-dependent signaling of MΦ activation as T_H2 and T_H1 cells which do express memTNF-α. Second, the expression of memTNF-α by the T_H clone, D10.G4, is maximal 24 h after activation, whereas the ability of this clone to activate MΦ is maximal at 6–8 h of activation and declines thereafter. Since TNF-α is known to play a critical role in activation of MΦ effector function, it was hypothesized that T cell membrane components other than memTNF-α might signal MΦ production of TNF-α, thus allowing autocrine TNF-α stimulation of MΦ effector function. In support of this, it is demonstrated that paraformaldehyde-fixed activated T_H2 cells can induce de novo production and release of TNF-α by MΦ. This effect was not an artifactual result of paraformaldehyde fixation since paraformaldehyde-fixed resting T cells did not induce TNF-α gene expression. Previous studies have demonstrated a role for autocrine TNF-α stimulation in LPS induction of effector function in recombinant IFN-γ-primed MΦ. The current study confirms that TNF-α plays a critical role in T cell contact-dependent signaling of MΦ but indicates that memTNF on the T cells may not be a sine qua non factor for contact-dependent signaling. The data suggest that other T cell membrane molecules contribute to activation of MΦ effector function by stimulation of MΦ TNF-α production.