A clone of the interleukin 2-producing Jurkat leukemia cell line termed JA3 (surface phenotype, T31, Ti+, T44+, T11+, T40+) has been used to induce and select cell variants lacking surface molecules involved in T-cell activation.Following 200 rad of V-radiation (1 rad = 0.01 Gy), cells were treated with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed to T3, Ti, T44, or T11 antigen and complement. (3,4), it has been shown that the combined use ofmAbs directed to distinct epitopes ofthe T11 molecule leads to T-cell activation (5). The third pathway of T-cell activation is initiated by the T44 cell-surface glycoprotein after interaction with specific mAbs (6, 7). Recent studies have been aimed at understanding the functional relationship existing among the three distinct pathways of T-cell activation. A major finding was that mAb-induced modulation of the T3-Ti antigen receptor complex led to unresponsiveness not only to anti-T3 or anti-Ti mAbs but also to anti-T11 (5) or anti-T44 mAbs (6). These results suggested that both T11 and T44 pathways of activation may be "regulated" by surface expression of the T-cell receptor complex.A useful approach to better define the functional and physical relationship among different surface molecules involved in human T-cell activation is represented by the study of "functional" T-cell lines and their variants. This approach has been recently applied by Weiss and Stobo (8) to the analysis of T3-Ti negative variants derived from the interleukin 2 (IL-2)-producing Jurkat leukemic T-cell line.In the present study, we analyzed the functional capability of phenotypically distinct cell variants derived by immunoselection with mAb and complement from the IL-2-producing JA3 cell line (9) following low dosages of irradiation. JA3 cells do not express detectable T4 or T8 surface antigens and exhibit the T3' Ti+ T44' Leu-1+ T11' T40' (3A1) 4F2' HLA class I' surface phenotype.Variants obtained by immunoselection with mAbs directed against T3 or Ti surface molecules were characterized by the simultaneous loss of both surface molecules. The second group was obtained by negative selection against the T44 surface antigen: the resulting T44-variants were also found to lack T3, Ti, and Leu-1 antigens. The third set of variants was obtained by immunoselection against surface T11 antigen: all the variants lacked all T-cell-specific markers but they still expressed 4F2 and HLA class I antigens. These data suggest the existence of a coordinated expression of surface T-cell antigens similar to that occurring at discrete stages of intrathymic differentiation (10). Functional studies of the three distinct sets of variants indicated that the T44 pathway of activation is functionally dependent on the "classical" pathway initiated by the T3-Ti receptor complex. In contrast and in partial disagreement with previous conclusions based Abbreviations: mAb, monoclonal antibodies; IL-2, interleukin 2; PMA, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate; PHA, phytohemagglutinin.The publication costs of this article were defrayed ...