Murine NK cell allospecificity-1 is defined by inhibitory ligands.

Hemopoietic allografts of normal and neoplastic origin are subject to NK cell-mediated resistance in mice. Susceptibility to this resistance is controlled by MHC-linked genes in a recessive manner. Several distinct specificities could be postulated to explain the strain-dependent pattern of resistance. These presumptive specificities for recognition are H-2 haplotype dependent, but the correspondence is not one-to-one. For example, resistance of H-2d or H-2b/d host to H-2 b graft operationally defines specificity-1, establishing its link with haplotype H-2b. To examine the molecular basis of specificity-1, spontaneous Dd-loss mutant clones were isolated from H-2b/d and H-2d hemopoietic cell lines, i.e., 416B of (C57BL/6 x DBA/2)F1 (B6D2F1) origin and L1210 of DBA/2 origin, both of which lack specificity-1. The expression of specificity-1 in the mutant clones was examined in vivo and in vitro. The results indicate that Dd-loss clones of 416B and L1210 lines express specificity-1. These data suggest that murine NK cell allospecificity-1 is defined primarily by the absence of the Dd molecule or other class I molecules sharing the protective motifs; no H-2b-associated genes play a relevant role. This conclusion is consistent with the missing self hypothesis of NK cell reactivity, and is in agreement with the observation that lysis of B6 targets by B6D2F1 NK cells is mediated mostly by cells that express Ly-49A and/or Ly-49G2.

The ability of H-2Dd molecule to affect natural resistance to hemopoietic allografts is an intrinsic property shared by Ddm1 but not Ld.

F1 hybrid resistance (HR) to parental bone marrow grafts is mediated by natural killer (NK) cells, and thought to be controlled by the non-class I hemopoietic histocompatibility (Hh) genes linked to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). However, as in the in vitro NK cytotoxicity against hemopoietic targets, expression of certain class I MHC molecules does affect HR, although mechanisms underlying such an effect are not understood. In this study, we examine the relevance of the "self/non-self" property of class I molecules and the molecular domains responsible for this function. H-2b/Hh-1b lymphoma cells were transfected with class I H-2Dd or Ld gene, and its effect on the Hh-1 phenotype was examined by testing the transfectant's ability to competitively inhibit the in vivo rejection of parental H-2b/Hh-1b bone marrow grafts by irradiated F1 hybrid hosts. Multiple independent clones of transfectants show that the genomic or cDNA of the Dd gene, but not of Ld, renders the Hh-1b-positive cells incapable of inhibiting HR in F1 mice, although both genes belong to the same region of the same haplotype. The same effect could be observed not only in H-2b/d F1 mice for which Dd and Ld are self, but also in H-2b/k F1 mice for which both Dd and Ld are non-self. Thus, this function of the Dd molecule is an intrinsic property, not necessarily related to its self/non-self characteristic relative to the effector cells. Furthermore, given the nature of the assay used in this study, the results favor a "target interference" model as the underlying mechanism of the Dd effect. To locate the relevant domain(s) of the Dd molecule, mutant Ddm1 gene was tested and found to have the same effect as the non-mutant Dd. Ddm1 is a hybrid molecule between Dd and Ld, sharing with Dd only the alpha 1 domain and a portion of the alpha 2 domain. The two N-terminal domains of Ddm1 differ from those of Dd by three amino acid substitutions, two of which affect the molecules' peptide-binding properties.

Hemopoietic histocompatibility (Hh-1) phenotype and the regulation of its expression.

Hybrid resistance (HR) is primarily controlled by the genes of the Hemopoietic histocompatibility-1 (Hh-1) locus within the H-2 complex. HR is a consequence of the Hh-1-controlled target determinants in homozygous parental strain mice and their absence in heterozygous F1 hybrid mice. To examine the mechanism that controls the Hh-1 phenotype, three independent clones of somatic cell hybrids between parental lines EL-4 (C57BL/6 origin, H-2b) and R1 (C58 origin, H-2k) were studied. The line EL-4 is Hh-1b-positive and is subject to HR by H-2b heterozygous F1 mice, but R1 lacks the Hh-1b allele and is not susceptible to HR. Of the three hybrid clones, F263.2 is Hh-1b-positive, whereas the other two, F262.2 and F264.2, are Hh-1b-negative, as judged by these cells' capacity to compete in vivo with the grafted parental C57BL/6 bone marrow cells in the resistant (C57BL/6 x C3H)F1 mice. All three clones express the H-2b and H-2k class I antigens equally well, are susceptible to activated NK cells to the same extent, and all carry four copies of chromosome 17. However, Southern analysis reveals that clone F263.2 contains three copies of H-2b chromosome and one H-2k, whereas the other two clones carry two copies each of the parental chromosome 17. The results suggest that the relative copy number of specific alleles is the crucial determinant of the Hh-1 phenotype, and render unlikely both the gene dosage hypothesis and the trans-acting dominant suppression hypothesis to account for the noncodominant expression of the Hh-1 phenotype.

The nature of hemopoietic histocompatibility determinants. Differential sensitivity of Hh-1b and H-2b determinants to tunicamycin.

NK cell-dependent resistance of F1 hybrid mice to parental H-2b hemopoietic allografts is directed to cell surface structures controlled by the Hh-1 locus in or near the H-2D region. Crucial to an understanding of this enigmatic phenomenon is the information on the biochemical nature of the Hh-1 locus-controlled structures. Therefore, we examined the effect of tunicamycin (TM), an inhibitor of asparagine-linked glycosylation and ganglioside biosynthesis, on the expression of Hh-1 determinants in H-2b/Hh-1b lymphomas. The Hh-1b determinants on EL-4 and RBL-5 cells were no longer detectable after TM treatment, as demonstrated by the failure of the treated cells to inhibit hybrid resistance to parental H-2b bone marrow cells in vivo. This interpretation was supported by the unaltered ability of the TM-treated cells to localize in the spleens of irradiated F1 hybrid recipients. In contrast, TM caused only moderate reduction in H-2Kb and H-2Db expression as measured by binding of specific antibodies. This was accompanied by reduced susceptibility to alloimmune anti-H-2Db CTL, but not to anti-H-2Kb CTL. No decrease was found in the susceptibility to NK cell cytotoxicity in vitro. These data indicate that N-linked glycosylation or ganglioside synthesis is crucial for the expression of the Hh-1 locus-controlled target structures, but not for the H-2 class I molecules. The data also show that the Hh-1b determinants are substantially different from those which confer the susceptibility to NK cell-mediated in vitro cytotoxicity.

Class I H-2Db determinants are not involved in hybrid resistance to parental H-2b/Hh-1b bone marrow allograft.

Hybrid resistance to parental H-2b bone marrow grafts is directed to a cell surface structure controlled by the Hh-1 locus in or near the H-2D region. The nature of this surface structure is not known. Since homozygosity at the class I H-2D locus or loci in this haplotype would seem a necessary but not sufficient condition for the grafts' susceptibility to resistance, we tested whether the expression of this phenotype is dependent on the expression of class I H-2Db determinants. Cloned variants of H-2b tumor RBL-5 were obtained by immunoselection for the absence of H-2Db expression, as determined by the inability to bind specific antibody and to induce or react with alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The three clones used in this study were H-2Db negative but H-2Kb positive and were natural killer cell resistant. When tested in vivo as competitive inhibitors the variant cells were capable of blocking hybrid resistance to parental H-2b bone marrow grafts as were unselected H-2Db-positive parental line cells. Therefore, H-2Db expression is irrelevant for Hh-1b expression. An incidental observation was that YAC-1 cells, a non-H-2b tumor with pronounced susceptibility to natural killing, were able to block hybrid resistance. This reactivity, not observed in our previous studies, raises the possibility that at least some of the effector cells are cross-reactive or capable of dual recognition.

Defective differentiation of natural killer cells in SJL mice. Role of the thymus.

As previously shown, three distinct phenotypes exist in murine natural killer (NK) cell activity when it is evaluated by the endogenous levels of activity and the susceptibility to augmentation by interferon (IFN) and IFN inducers. The "low" phenotype has low levels of activity which can be poorly augmented by IFN, as in mice of SJL strain. The "inducible" phenotype exhibits low endogenous levels but can vigorously respond to IFN-mediated augmentation, as in A.SW strain. The "high" NK phenotype shows high levels of endogenous activity which can be augmented to still higher levels by IFN, as in B10.S mice. Since SJL mice with congenital absence of the thymus (nude) were of the inducible type, the effect of neonatal thymectomy was examined in the present study. Neonatal thymectomy was found to convert the low phenotype of SJL mice to the inducible, mimicking the effect of nu/nu genotype. Thymectomy as late as 25 days after birth was effective, but retransplantation of a syngeneic newborn or adult thymus, or thymocytes, failed to reverse the effect of thymectomy. The poor responsiveness of NK activity to IFN in SJL, therefore, is extrinsic to the NK cell lineage and is attributable to suppression or maturational block of NK cell differentiation by the thymus during the first few weeks of neonatal life. A series of experiments with bone marrow chimeras showed that the SJL recipients did not allow the expression of inducible or high phenotype by bone marrow progenitors from allogeneic donors with either phenotype. Therefore, the SJL recipients provide an environment which suppresses not only the development of IFN-sensitive NK cell precursors, but also the levels of endogenous NK cell activity. SJL bone marrow cells gave rise to NK activity of inducible phenotype in B10.S recipients, confirming the crucial role of the environment in which NK cell differentiation takes place.

Suppression of murine NK activity induced by Corynebacterium parvum: further characterization and abrogation of suppressor cells.

Formalin-killed Corynebacterium parvum (CP), given at a dose of 0.4-0.7 mg/mouse IV or IP, induced suppressor cells for NK activity in B6C3F1 mice. The suppressor cells belong to at least two different populations, plastic adherent and nonadherent, and were not depleted by antibodies specific for Thy-1.2, Iak, or NK-1.2 surface markers. Administration of p-I:C, an interferon-inducer, to animals 18 h before the assay did not affect the suppressor activity. Hypotonic shock treatment of splenocytes abrogated the in vitro suppressive activity, and subsequent reconstitution of the shock-treated cells with RBC failed to restore the suppressive activity. SJL/J mice, which have low NK activity, exhibited suppressor activity comparable to B6C3F1 mice following CP treatment, whereas CP-treated BALB/c athymic and euthymic mice showed a lower ability to generate suppressors for NK as compared to B6C3F1 mice.

Role of suppressor cells in the decline of natural killer cell activity in estrogen-treated mice.

Previous studies have shown that prolonged estrogen treatment of mice markedly reduces their natural killer (NK) cell activity. Our experiments demonstrate that splenocytes from (C57BL/6 X C3H/He) F1 mice treated with 17 beta-estradiol are suppressive for the NK activity of splenocytes from untreated mice when the two cell populations are mixed during cytotoxicity assays. The suppressor activity is resistant to treatment with anti-Thy-1.2 or anti-la reagent plus complement, can be generated in neonatally thymectomized mice, and is present in plastic-adherent as well as nonadherent cell populations. Treatment with a NK-reactive antiserum, either anti-asialo-GM-1 or anti-NK-1.2, has no effect on the suppressor activity. Administration of the interferon inducer polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid to mice treated with estrogen results in moderate restoration of NK activity but has no effect on the suppressor activity. These data suggest that generation of a Thy-1-negative/la-negative suppressor cell population is, at least in part, responsible for the reduced levels of NK activity in estrogen-treated mice.

Cellular suppression of murine ADCC and NK activities induced by Corynebacterium parvum.

Administration of a single dose of C. parvum (CP) induces depression of splenic NK activity in mice after a lag period of 3-5 days and this depression lasts about 2 weeks. The depressed levels of NK activity noted in this study depended on time of CP administration and were associated with the induction of suppressor cell activity. Neonatally thymectomized or sublethally irradiated mice had unimpaired ability to generate suppressor cells following CP treatment. Depletion of adherent/phagocytic cells by carbonyl iron plus magnetism, Sephadex G-10 filtration, or both neither enriched NK activity nor removed suppressor activity from the spleens of CP-treated mice. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against lymphoma targets was also depressed in CP-treated mice, accompanied by a concomitant appearance of suppressor cells that interfere with ADCC at the effector level.

Species-specific tissue antigens. III. Immunological relationships of enzymic antigens in various species.

Immunological relationships have been investigated with acid and alkaline phosphatases, cystine aminopeptidase, beta-acetylglucosaminidase, beta-glucuronidase, catalase and L-glutamate dehydrogenase of human, monkey, mouse, rat, rabbit, dog, cattle, sheep, cat, pig, guinea-pig and chicken organ extracts by means of immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis. Extensive cross-reactions among the antigens of most of the enzymes were observed. However, enzymic proteins of acid and alkaline phosphatases, cystine aminopeptidase, beta-acetylglucosaminidase and beta-glucuronidase were found to possess primate and/or human-specific antigenic determinants.

Antigenic and enzymatic changes in infected and transformed human diploid cells.

Human diploid fibroblasts, WI-38, were infected with various agents and the levels of lysosomal enzymes determined by immunochemical quantitation. Esterase levels were raised by mumps virus and Toxoplasma gondii infection. The concentration of beta-D-glucuronidase was reduced by these same agents. Beta-D-N-acetyl glucosaminidase was greatly increased in cultures infected with T. gondii and decreased by mycoplasma infection. Two cultures transformed by SV40 showed reduced levels of esterase compared with WI-38, as did one of two transformed amnion cultures. A second amnion culture and a culture of transformed Detroit 551 fibroblasts were unchanged. The levels of acid phosphatase were sharply reduced in three of the four SV40 transformed cultures tested.