Trinitrophenyl modification of H-2^k and H-2^b spleen cells results in enhanced serological detection of K^k-like determinants

Several anti-H-2K(k) but not anti-H-2D(d) monoclonal antibodies (mAb) exhibited enhanced binding to B10.A murine spleen cells after modification of the cells with trinitrobenzene sulfonate (TNBS). The number of antibody molecules bound to TNP-modified B10.A spleen cells increased by a factor of two or more. The same anti-2K(k) mAb that exhibited enhanced binding to modified B10.A cells did not bind to unmodified C57BL/10 spleen cells, as expected, but did bind to TNP-modified C57BL/10 spleen cells. This TNP-dependent binding was not a result of cross-reactions with cell surface TNP groups nor with Fc receptors. TNP modification of a variant cell line that does not express class I H-2 products did not result in enhanced binding by these mAb. These findings can account for preferential recognition of TNP-K(k) by B10.A and B10.BR CTL, and also for cross-reactive lysis by C57BL/10 CTL stimulated by C57BL/10-TNP against unmodified H-2K(k) targets.