• DOI:10.4049/jimmunol.131.4.1827
• Corpus ID: 1560296

Activation of nonspecific killer cells by interleukin 2-containing supernatants.

@article{Teh1983ActivationON,
  title={Activation of nonspecific killer cells by interleukin 2-containing supernatants.},
  author={Hung Sia Teh and M. Yu},
  journal={Journal of immunology},
  year={1983},
  volume={131 4},
  pages={
          1827-33
        }
}

• H. Teh, M. Yu
• Published 1 October 1983
• Biology, Medicine
• Journal of immunology

In the absence of specific antigen stimulation, nonspecific killer cells were induced by culturing C57BL/6 lymph node or spleen cells with interleukin 2-containing supernatants. These supernatants were obtained from stimulation of either rat spleen cells with concanavalin A or a variant of the T cell lymphoma, EL4 (H-2b) with phorbol myristic acetate. The ability of the EL4 supernatant to induce nonspecific killer cells was abrogated by absorption with an interleukin 2-dependent T cell line or by concanavalin A-stimulated spleen cell blasts, but not by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated spleen cell blasts or by a non-interleukin 2-producing EL4 line. Partially purified interleukin 2 from EL4 supernatants could also support nonspecific killer cell induction. The induction of cytolytic cells by interleukin 2 is sensitive to gamma-irradiation and has a D omicron of 120 rad. The nonspecific killer cells induced are likely cytotoxic T lymphocytes; the majority of the precursor and effector cells bear the Thy-1 alloantigen marker. These nonspecific killer cells killed a broad spectrum of target cells, including concanavalin A- and lipopolysaccharide-induced splenic blasts of syngeneic or allogeneic mice, a syngeneic tumor, and a cloned allogeneic cytotoxic T cell line. The frequency of precursors for nonspecific killer cells in C57BL/6 lymph node and spleen cells are 1/7000 and 1/12,000, respectively. Clonal analyses revealed that these nonspecific killers exhibit heterogeneity with respect to their target cell specificities. The induction of nonspecific killers by interleukin 2-containing supernatants is partially dependent on nylon wool-adherent cells; in antigen-stimulated cultures the most specific killer cells were obtained from cultures in which nylon wool-nonadherent lymph node responder cells were stimulated with nylon wool-nonadherent allogeneic splenic stimulator cells that were treated with anti-Thy-1 antibody and complement. The relevance of these findings with respect to the frequencies and fine specificities of cytotoxic T lymphocytes generated in interleukin 2-supplemented cultures is discussed.