Phorbol esters inactivate the lytic apparatus of cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

Treatment of cloned murine CTL with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) initiates the loss of lytic potential of these cells. The process is relatively rapid (t 1/2 = 2.2 +/- 0.7 hr), occurs independently of protein synthesis, and can be largely reversed within 3 hr by incubation in normal medium with or without the addition of supernatants from activated lymphocytes. Examination of PMA-treated or untreated CTL in assays that separate binding and post-binding events suggests that the lytic apparatus itself is a major target of the PMA-initiated event.