Induction of T Lymphocyte Responses to a Small Molecular Weight Antigen: I. Failure to Induce Tolerance in Azobenzenearsonate (ABA)-Specific T Cells in Guinea Pigs with an ABA Conjugate of a Copolymer of D-Glutamic Acid and D-Lysine (D-GL)¹

2,4-Dinitrophenyl (DNP) coupled to the copolymer D-glutamic acid and D-lysine (D-GL) induces B cell tolerance but not T cell tolerance. This implies either a lack of DNP determinant recognition by T cells or a substantial difference in tolerance mechanisms for the two cell types. In the present study D-GL was conjugated with the well-defined determinant azobenzenearsonate (ABA) coupled to single amino acids shown here and previously by others to trigger effectively T lymphocytes. The experiments presented here demonstrate that these ABA conjugates of D-GL, although capable of diminishing anti-ABA antibody production, completely fail to render ABA-specific T lymphocytes tolerant thus drawing us to conclude that there are significant operational differences in the mechanisms of tolerance induction in T and B lymphocytes, respectively.