Human peripheral blood T cells ofnormal donors were activated in vitro with autologous adherent cells pulsed with poly(LTyr,LGlu)-poly(DLAla)--poly(LLys) [abbreviated (T,G)-A--L]. The "educated" T cells were tested: (i) for their ability to produce a (T,G)-A--L-specific T cell-replacing factor in the cooperation with B cells for antibody responses in vivo or in vitro and (ii) for their ability to proliferate in the presence of a second stimulus of(T,G)-A--L. Results ofscreening of66 donors demonstrated that educated T cells ofabout 50% ofthe donors produced an active (T,G)-A--L-specific factor, whereas activated cells of only half of the factor producers were capable of proliferating in the presence of the antigen. Thus, as reported for all other species studied, human individuals differ in their response potential to (TG)-A--L.Immune response (Ir) genes have been found in a variety of species (1-4) and therefore it is widely assumed that they must exist in humans. For the majority of antigenic systems studied, Ir genes were found to be linked to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) ofthe species (1, 2, 5-8). Hence, it is likely that Ir genes in the human will map close to the HLA-D locus because of its similarity to the I region of the mouse (9). The Ir genes also appear to be the obvious candidates to explain involvement ofthe MHC in disease (10). In spite ofthe paramount importance of understanding the function of putative Ir genes in humans, the existence ofsuch genes has not been established yet, probably due to the complexity ofthe antigenic systems that play a role in disease occurrence (10, 11) and due to the ethical constraints on immunizing humans with antigens.One of the antigenic systems most extensively used for studies on the genetic regulation of immune responsiveness in a variety of species is that of the synthetic polypeptide antigen poly(LTyr,LGlu)-poly(DLAla)--poly(Lys), abbreviated as (T,G)-A--L (1, 2, 5, 12, 13). In the mouse, antibody responses (2, 5), delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions (14), and antigen-dependent proliferation responses (15) specific to (T,G)-A--L were all found to be genetically controlled. In addition, an antigen-specific T cell-replacing factor that could cooperate with B cells for the production of(T, G)-A--L-specific antibodies has been reported for this synthetic polypeptide (16,17). One of the properties of antigen-specific T cell-replacing factors is their ability to interact with B cells across major histocompatibility (H-2) "barriers" (16, 17), although their production is regulated by Ir genes (16, 18) and they possess Ia determinants (17,19). Furthermore, it has been shown that these factors are not species specific (20,21). It appeared, therefore, that the (T,G)-A--L antigenic system is most adequate for attempts to study genetically controlled immune responses in humans.In the present study we have generated in vitro "educated"human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) of normal donors to (T,G)-A--L. The educated cells were tested for t...