Rapid in vivo assay of mouse natural killer cell activity.

A rapid elimination of tumor cells from some organs was detected in mice following iv injection of tumor cells labeld in vitro with [125I]5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine. Recovery of radioactivity in different organs (spleen, liver, and lungs) was reduced in mice with high natural killer (NK) cell reactivity in their spleens, as measured in vitro by concomitant short-term 51Cr release assay. Considerable parallelism between in vitro and in vivo reactivities against two mouse lymphomas and a human myeloid cell line was found in mice of different strains and ages. Similarly, various immunophamacologic treatments had comparable effects on in vitro and in vivo reactivities. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that rapid cytolysis of tumor cells occurred in vivo and that NK cells played a major role in their elimination.