Augmentation of natural killer cells involves both enhancement of lytic machinery and expression of new receptors

Abstract

A good correlation was found between the sensitivity of six hematopoetic cell lines to natural killing by both unstimulated and Interferon (IFN)-stimulated effector cells and the ability of these cell lines to induce interferon among human leukocytes. Two cell lines (HL 60 and P3HR1) were not sensitive to natural killing by unstimulated effectors (<10 lytic units) and did not induce IFN. Augmentation of natural killing by preincubation of effector cells with IFN was found to alter the binding of lymphocytes to HL 60 cells but not K 562 cells. This indicates that the augmentation of natural killer cells by IFN involves both enhancement of the lytic machinery and development of new receptors.