Reorientation of the microtubule-organizing center and the Golgi apparatus in cloned cytotoxic lymphocytes triggered by binding to lysable target cells.

By immunofluorescence observations with cell couples of cloned murine cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and target cells, evidence is presented for a rapid reorientation of the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) and the Golgi apparatus (GA) in the effector cell (but not in the target cell) toward the contact area with the target. The reorientation of the MTOC/GA and the cytotoxic activity of the CTL were inhibited reversibly by nocodazole, a microtubule-disrupting agent. In lectin-formed cell couples of CTL and neuraminidase-treated target cells, the MTOC in essentially all of the CTL was oriented toward the effector-target contact area of a lysable target cell, but was left randomly oriented with a nonlysable target cell. A similar random orientation of the effector-MTOC was also observed in cell couples of cloned natural killer cells and nonlysable targets. These findings indicate that the repositioning of the MTOC and the GA, which is shared by CTL and natural killer cells, is an essential and early event in the onset of the cytolytic mechanism. It is suggested that this reorientation serves the purpose of directing to the bound target cell secretory vesicles derived from the GA that contain cytotoxic substances.