Natural killer cell cytotoxicity assay with time-resolved fluorimetry.

A new time-resolved fluorimetric method for the measurement of natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity has been developed by labelling the target cell K562 with a new synthesized fluorescence marker KLUK. The method has advantages of higher sensitivity, time-saving, good reproducibility and has no radioactivity problems. A satisfactory result is obtained by comparing it with 51Cr release method. It demonstrates that the new marker provides an alternative to currently used radioactive markers for the assessment of in vitro cellular cytotoxicity.