Lymphocytes stimulated with recombinant human interleukin-2: relationship between motility into protein matrix and in vivo localization in normal and neoplastic tissues of mice.

Murine splenic lymphocytes nonspecifically stimulated with recombinant human interleukin-2 in vitro were fractionated according to their ability to migrate through type I collagen gel during a 24-hour period. After labeling with 111In and adoptive transfer into hosts of subcutaneous mammary tumors, motile fractions exhibited approximately twofold greater tumor localization and approximately twofold lower lung localization than nonmotile fractions. The results suggest that lymphocyte properties associated with motility through extracellular matrix also influence patterns of lymphocyte localization in vitro. It should be possible to identify these properties by comparative analysis of motile and nonmotile fractions obtained from various matrices.