Membrane-Incorporated Surrogate Receptors Increase Antigen Presentation by Resting B Cells, but not by LPS-Activated Blasts.

Palmitate-conjugated monoclonal antibodies specific to ovalbumin were inserted into the cell membrane of normal resting B cells and LPS-activated blasts. These two decorated B cells were tested for their ability to act as antigen-presenting cells for ovalbumin-specific I-A^d-restricted T-cell hybridomas. It was found that the antibody-decorated resting B cells presented antigen more efficiently than non-decotated controls. However, no increment was observed when decorated LPS blasts were compared with nondecorated blasts. This is explained by the fact that the inserted antibodies quickly disappeared from the cell membrane of LPS blasts, while they were retained for a long period in the membrane of resting B cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]