Dissociation of responses measured by natural cytotoxicity and chemiluminescence

Monocyte/macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity requires the generation of activated oxygen radicals, which can be measured by chemiluminescence (CL). To investigate whether natural killer (NK) cell activity required activated oxygen species, both cytotoxicity against K562 target cells and CL were measured in cell populations of human peripheral blood. The following results were obtained: (a) Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) showed NK activity and a response in CL, which could be induced by viable or paraformaldehyde-fixed K562 target cells as well as by latex particles. (b) Both T cells and non-T cells exhibited NK activity, but T cells gave no K562- or latex-induced CL responses. (c) Depletion of phagocytic cells from MNC abolished CL, but only marginally affected NK activity. (d) Reconstitution of phagocyte-depleted MNC with adherent cells revealed a superadditive enhanced CL response, but had no augmenting effect on NK activity. (e) Phagocyte-depleted cell populations, enriched for NK activity by density gradient centrifugation, did not respond in K562- and latex-induced CL. (f) MNC, highly enriched for NK activity by cell sorting with a cytofluorograf using the fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled monoclonal antibody anti-Leu-11a, responded only with reduced CL, whereas the NK activity was enriched up to 45-fold. From these results it is concluded that NK cell-mediated cytolysis of K562 target cells and K562-induced CL are not functionally correlated, but represent properties of two distinct cell populations, namely NK cells and monocytes.