Ly phenotype of T cells cytotoxic for syngeneic mouse mammary tumors: evidence for T cell interactions.

Specific cell-mediated cytotoxicity (CMC) of lymph node cells from immunized C3Hf mice, against syngeneic C3H/Umc mammary tumor cells, assayed in vitro, is effected by T lymphocytes. This CMC response is biphasic, with an early peak attained within 6 hr and a second major peak beginning at about 18 hr. Effector cells of both the early minor and late major phases of the response belong to the Ly23 set. Other T cell sets evidently play no part in the early effector response. But specifically activated Ly1 cells help or amplify the major late-phase response. Nevertheless, the mixture of specifically activated Ly1 and Ly23 sets still does not completely reconstitute the late response, which implies that the Ly123 set is also needed for maximal expression of CMC in this system. These Ly123 cells must come from specifically immunized donors. It appears, therefore, that maximal CMC is achieved by the participation of specific Ly123 cells which in the late phase directly or indirectly give rise to Ly23 killer cells. Thus, although killing of syngeneic mammary tumor cells in the CMC assay is invariably effected by cells of the Ly23 set, specifically activated cells of the Ly1 set, and probably of the Ly123 set also, are participants in the interactions needed to produce a maximal CMC response.