Transferrin receptors on tumor and bone marrow cells: lack of involvement as target structure for natural killer cells.

Two different experimental approaches based on the specificity of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been taken to verify the hypothesis that the transferrin receptor (TfR) on proliferating cells serves as a common target structure for natural killer (NK) cells. Thus, by the lysostrip technique the TfR was removed from the surface of K562 and Molt4 tumor cells by incubation with two different anti-TfR mAbs. The effect of removal of the TfR was controlled by uptake of radiolabeled transferrin, and by binding of non-cross-reacting monoclonal anti-TfR receptor antibodies. Though the modulation of TfR on the membrane of viable cells was nearly complete, the cells remained fully susceptible to NK lysis. The second approach consisted in removal of TfR-bearing cells from bone marrow cell suspensions by an indirect rosetting technique. Using mAbs bound to ox erythrocytes the rosetted TfR-bearing cells could be removed from bone marrow cell suspension by density centrifugation with an efficiency of greater than 99%. It could be shown that both fractions, TfR+ and TfR- cells, could be lysed to the same degree by NK cells. Thus, the evidence obtained speaks against a role of TfR as a recognition structure for NK cells.