The Lyt phenotype of the T cells responsible for in vivo tumor rejection in syngeneic mice.

Spleen cells of BALB/c mice hyperimmunized with a transplantable methylcholanthrene-induced sarcoma Meth A (Meth A-Im-SPL) inhibited the growth of Meth A tumor in vivo in a tumor neutralizing test. Meth A-Im-SPL did not neutralize another antigenically distinct sarcoma, Meth 1, indicating that the antitumor activity is tumor specific. Lyt-1+2- cells of Meth A-Im-SPL (Im-Lyt-1+2-) were the effectors since in vitro treatment of Meth A-Im-SPL with anti-Thy 1.2 or anti-Lyt 1.2 antibody plus complement completely abrogated their neutralizing activity, whereas treatment with anti-Lyt 2.2 plus complement did not. To further confirm the effector activity of Im-Lyt-1+2- cells, T cell subpopulations were separated from Meth A-Im-SPL by the panning method. The purified Im-Lyt-1+2-, but not Im-Lyt-1+2+ cells neutralized the tumor in athymic nu/nu mice as efficiently as in +/+ mice, suggesting that the donor Im-Lyt-1+2- cells but not recipient T cells were primarily responsible for neutralizing the tumor. The present study, however, did not exclude the possible contribution of recipient T cells to the tumor neutralization and this is open to further investigation.