Comparison of three isotopic assays of cell-mediated cytotoxicity against mouse tumor cells. II. Sensitivity and specificity of the assays and characteristics of effector and sensitizing cells.

Three assays of cell-mediated cytotoxicity in mice, involving release of either 51Cr (CRA), 125iododeoxyuridine (IRA), or [3H]proline (PRA), were compared under identical test conditions. Experiments were performed with effector cells from mice immunized with FBL-3 tumor cells, a syngeneic Friend virus-induced leukemia, or with allogeneic normal spleen cells. With established tissue culture cells as targets, similar results were obtained in all three assays. The cytotoxicity produced by cells from in vivo-immunized mice and the induction of cytotoxicity in vitro were T-cell-dependent. When short-term culture target cells were used, the IRA gave a more selective pattern of cytotoxicity than did the other two assays. However, when remaining target cells at the end of the assay were treated with trypsin, higher levels of 125iododeoxyuridine (125IUDR) release were seen, and the results were then comparable to those in the CRA and PRA. These results indicated that 125IUDR, a nuclear label, could only be released after lysis of cells. In contrast, 51Cr or [3H]proline, which are cytoplasmic labels, could also be released from damaged but unlysed cells. These fundamental differences could give different results in these assays, which could determine their correlation with in vivo transplantation immunity.