The overall objectives of this T cell immortalization and cell immunology core, termed Core B, are to provide the following services and functions for all of the projects and investigators in the Center. These services will include: (1) a central resource for the establishment of immortalized T cell lines and clones from PBL, biopsy sites of inflammation (skin, synovium, kidney, lymph nodes, bone marrow) and inflammatory fluids (synovial, pleural, bronchoalveolar lavage and CSF) in patients with autoimmune disease. We will also establish bank of immortalized and well characterized functional libraries of T cells that may be of value to investigators and to other investigators in the autoimmune network. T cells will be immortalized by Herpes Virus Saimiri (HVS) HVS immortalized T cells can be grown with out the requirement for continual triggering with antigen, antigen presenting cells and IL-2. (2) central resource for the establishment of IL-2 dependent antigen specific T cell clones from PBL and tissues from patients with autoimmunity disease. (3) a cellular immunology service to evaluate both immortalized T cell clones, as well as IL-2 dependent T cell lines and peripheral blood T cells with respect to conventional functional and phenotype assays of antigen specificity (including augmentation of classical activation markers of T cells including CD40L, CD25, CD69 and MHC class II) as well as by chemokine and lymphokine release by ELISA and CTL function. (4) a central resource laboratory for the immortalization of B cells by EBV infection in all patients studied in our center. These cells will be used for MHC typing in Dr. Winchester's laboratory and as a potential source for antigen presenting cells in many of the T cell function studies planned in our center.
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