Modulation of natural cytotoxicity by alloantibodies: V. The mechanism of a selective augmenting effect of anti-H-2 antisera on the natural killer activity of mouse spleen cells

Abstract

Treatment of mouse spleen cells with specific anti-H-2 antisera augments their natural killer (NK) activity against K562 cells but not against YAC target tumor cells. The same population of natural killer cells was found to lyse K562 as well as YAC target cells, since (a) depletion of YAC reactive NK cells by absorption on YAC monolayers resulted in a concomitant depletion of anti-K562 NK activity of mouse spleen cells, and (b) both K562 and YAC cells could inhibit their own as well as each others lysis in a cross-competition assay. Anti-H-2 antiserum could not induce anti-K562 NK activity in spleen cells previously depleted of NK cells by absorption on YAC monolayers, indicating that alloantiserum does not act by recruiting otherwise nonreactive cells to become cytotoxic toward K562 target cells. In a target-binding assay, K562 binding of NK cells (T-cell-, B-cell-, and macrophage-depleted spleen cells) increased five- to eightfold in the presence of anti-H-2 antiserum whereas YAC cells binding of NK cells was not increased. H-2 antigens per se did not appear to be involved in the alloantisera effect since anti-NK antiserum directed against a non-H-2 antigen selectively expressed on NK cells, showed a similar selective NK enhancing effect. Protein A, a reagent which binds to the Fc region of immunoglobulin molecules, completely blocked the alloantiserum induced augmentation of anti-K562 NK activity, but did not alter basal NK activity. Moreover, the F(ab) 2 fraction of alloantibodies failed to enhance anti-K562 cytotoxic activity of mouse spleen cells, indicating a crucial role for the Fc portion of the alloantibodies attached to the NK cells, in NK augmentation. Utilization of several target cell lines with or without membrane Fc receptors (FcR) revealed that alloantiserum enhanced the lysis of only FcR + target cells. It is proposed that alloantibody-coated NK cells, as a result of a secondary interaction between attached alloantibody and Fc receptors on target cells, interact more readily with the target cells and thereby cause a higher level of lytic activity.