[Assessment of the proliferative activity of hepatocellular carcinoma with the monoclonal antibody Ki-67 using flow cytometry].

This study examined whether the monoclonal antibody Ki-67 is an indicator of hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation and whether it represents a new parameter for determining the diagnosis and prognosis. The subjects were 22 patients who were not treated preoperatively among the patients undergoing hepatectomy at our department. Fresh specimens of the cancer tissue and the noncancerous regions were stained with PI after processing them with FITC-labeled Ki-67. Then 20,000 cells were analyzed by two-color flow cytometry. A significant difference was observed between the well differentiated group and the moderately and poorly differentiated groups. However, no significant difference was observed with respect to any other factor. The average Ki-67 labeling of the cancers in the patients with and without cirrhosis was 17.0 +/- 10.5% and 5.3 +/- 3.5%, respectively (p < 0.05). The cancers showed high Ki-67 labeling rates compared with the noncancerous areas and a positive correlation was observed between the two. These findings suggested that coexistent hepatic lesions have some influence on the proliferative activity of cancer. A significant correlation was confirmed by flow cytometry after immunostaining using the antibody MIB-1. Analysis by this method was considered to be useful for assessing the proliferating activity of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Rapid flow cytometric assay for the assessment of natural killer cell activity.

A new assay using flow cytometry has been established to assess natural killer (NK) lytic activity with common bench top instrumentation. This assay uses a cyanine membrane dye to stain live K562 target cells and an iodide nuclear dye to evaluate dead cells, and provides a method of reliably separating target and effector cell populations. Effector cells remain unstained (fluorescent negative) throughout the procedure. The damaged pre-labeled targets appear doubly stained as their membranes become permeable to the nuclear stain during incubation. Percent cytotoxicity of various effector:target cell ratios is discerned using flow cytometric analysis after a 2 h incubation in this new assay, as compared to 4 h with the 51Cr-release 'gold standard' assay for cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Comparisons of normal individuals tested in parallel with the fluorescent dyes and the 51Cr-release assay have shown direct correlations. This new two-color flow cytometric technique has proven to be uncomplicated and reproducible when used in the clinical setting.

[The preclinical assessment of the activity and pharmacological action of native human interleukin-2]. / Predklinicheskaia otsenka aktivnosti i farmakologicheskogo deistviia nativnogo interleikina-2 cheloveka.

It was demonstrated in in vivo and in vitro experiments that interleukin-2, obtained by cultivation of donor lymphocytes and purified by gel filtration, induces the production of mouse and human killer lymphocytes possessing high cytolytic activity against tumor cells. Interleukin-2 does not cause irreversible changes of the physiological and morphologic indices of vital activity in mice.