Abortive activation precedes functional deletion of CD8+ T cells following encounter with self-antigens expressed by resting B cells in vivo

InsHA mice express the haemagglutinin (HA) protein from influenza virus A/PR/8 H1N1 (PR8) as a self antigen on pancreatic islet beta cells. We have utilized these mice to investigate the ability of resting B cells expressing Kd to induce self-tolerance among naive KdHA-specific clone 4 CD8+ T cells. Adoptive transfer of KdHA-peptide-pulsed resting B cells into clone 4-->InsHA recipients resulted in the activation and proliferation of clone 4 CD8+ T cells throughout the peripheral lymphoid tissues. Significantly, proliferation was not associated with the acquisition of T cell effector function; as evidenced by a lack of interferon-gamma production and the complete absence of any autoimmune pathology even after immunization of recipient mice with PR8. These data demonstrate that resting B cells pulsed with self-epitopes can induce abortive activation of potentially self-reactive naive CD8+ T cells resulting in their functional deletion from the peripheral T-cell repertoire in the absence of any associated autoimmunity.