Enhanced lytic susceptibility of Ha-ras transformants after oncogene induction is specific to activated NK cells

C3H 10T1/2 mouse fibroblasts were transfected with a plasmid vector composed of EJ, the mutated c-Ha-ras, and a metallothionein promotor that induced amplified ras expression when activated by culture in the presence of zinc. Experiments were conducted to compare the effect of induction on killing by activated natural killer (NK) cells, cytotoxic T lymphocytes, activated macrophages, and antibody plus complement. The only effector that recognized increased ras expression and exhibited high-inducible cytolysis was an activated NK cell. The effectors from spleen were poly I.C. boostable, Lyt-1.1 negative, NK 1.2 positive, and asialo GM1 positive. Spleen cells from T cell-deficient nude mice, but not NK-deficient beige mice, exhibited high levels of killing activity, and experiments with NK cell clones demonstrated that these lines were also highly cytolytic and killed Ha-ras transfectants in parallel to YAC. Transfection of the same fibroblast line with c-myc did not alter the level of activated NK sensitivity. Cold target competition experiments revealed that Ha-ras-transfected and non-transfected 10T1/2 fibroblasts competed equally for lysis of either YAC or Ha-ras transfectants. Rat-1 fibroblasts did not compete, but gained this capacity when transformed with the v-Ki-ras oncogene but not v-fps. These data suggest that Ha-ras acts in target cells at a post-binding step, whereas Ki-ras may affect expression of target-effector binding structures. The findings that activated NK cell lysis may be specifically influenced by ras expression support a role for NK cells in host surveillance against early neoplastic changes.