THE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CYTOTOXIC T-LYMPHOCYTE MEDIATED LYSIS OF CHEMICALLY-INDUCED SARCOMAS FROM IMMUNODEFICIENT AND NORMAL MICE

A panel of sarcomas induced with 3-methylcholanthrene in normal and im munodeficient mice was studied for their capacity to present antigen b y the endogenous, MHC class I restricted pathway. Lymphocytic choriome ningitis virus was used to infect cultured tumour cells, and the infec ted cells were tested for susceptibility to cytolysis by virus specifi c cytotoxic T cells. Tumour cells originating from rumours induced in immunocompetent C.B.-17 mice presented virus antigen more efficiently than tumour cells from immunodeficient SCID mice. No significant diffe rence in virus antigen presentation was found between tumours from nud e and nu/+ BALB/c mice. The sensitivity of target cells from the indiv idual rumours to cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) mediated lysis correlate d negatively with their sensitivity to natural killer (NK) cell mediat ed lysis. There was a positive correlation between the sensitivity to CTL mediated lysis and surface expression of the MHC class I molecule L(d) of the tumour cells. Tumour cells incapable of in vitro presentat ion of viral antigen to specific cytotoxic T cells originated from tum ours known from previous experiments to be readily accepted after tran splantation to immunocompetent, histocompatible recipients.