Lysis of leukemia cells by spleen cells of normal mice.

Spleen cells from 2- to 3-month-old normal mice of some strains having a low incidence of spontaneous leukemia were found to lyse cells of the spontaneous AKR leukemia K36 in the 51Cr release assay. Incubation of 51Cr-labeled ADR K36 cells with spleen cells from normal C57BL/6, C57L, C57BL/10, and RF mice resulted in the release of significantly more 51Cr than that released in the presence of medium alone. In contrast, 51Cr released from AKR K36 cells after incubation with spleen cells from mice of the high leukemic strains AKR and C58 was less than that released spontaneously. The results of competitive inhibition tests when C57BL/6 spleen cells were incubated simultaneously with 51Cr-labeled AKR K36 target cells and varying numbers of nonlabeled cells demonstrated that the cytotoxic activity of normal C57BL/6 spleen cells was directed against an antigen(s) associated with several leukemias, but that was undetectable on normal thymocytes. Pretreatment of C57BL/6 spleen cells with carbonyl iron and a magnet, which removed phagocytic macrophages, did not decrease the cytotoxic acitivity for AKR K36 cells.