KINETIC-ANALYSIS OF CYTOTOXIC LYMPHOCYTE TARGET-CELL INTERACTION AS QUANTIFIED BY DUAL PARAMETER FLOW-CYTOMETRY

The kinetics of conjugate formation between leukemic cell lines (K562 and Daudi) and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells was studied. A flow cytofluorometry method using double immunofluorescence staining w as applied. During the first 15 min of incubation of LAK effectors wit h leukemic targets, a rapid binding occurred, followed by a plateau ph ase lasting until 30 min of observation. A considerable, yet not stati stically significant, between-donor variability was noticed. A mathema tical model of conjugate formation kinetics, based on the analogy to e nzyme kinetics, was formulated and validated. Parameters of the model were related to the binding capacity of effector and target cells, and to the lifetime of conjugates and free cells. The concordance of theo retical curves with experimental data proved that the described model can be considered as a useful tool for the evaluation of kinetic and d ynamic characterization of conjugate formation between leukemic target s and LAK effectors.