Naive monoclonal T cells specific for the male antigen can be stimulated in vivo to eliminate male cells and become memory cells or to permit survival of male cells and become tolerant. Memory cells responded to TCR ligation by cyclic oscillations of calcium levels and immediate secretion of very high levels of IL-2 and interferon-γ. Tolerant cells did not proliferate in response to ionomycin and phorbol myristate acetate, failing to mobilize calcium to produce IL-2 or express IL-2R, but survived for long time periods in vivo and secreted IL-10. These results emphasize that tolerance is not an absence of all functional activity and may be associated with modifications of behavior conferring important regulatory functions on tolerant T cells.
