In vitro stimulation and inhibition of tumor cell growth mediated by different lymphoid cell populations

Spleen, lymph node and thymus cells from normal C57BL/6 mice or mice given injections 6 to 20 days previously with syngeneic methylocholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma (B6MCA) cells were tested for their ability to mediate growth stimulation and/or inhibition of B6MCA cells in vitro. At an effector cell to tumor cell ratio of 10:1,, nucleated spleen cells from mice bearing the tumor for 6 days enhanced tumor cell growth. Neither lymph node nor thymus cells from tumor-bearing mice were stimulatory. Tumor cell growth was inhibited by either spleen or lymph node cells only when a ratio of 1000:1 was exceeded. Thymocytes, however, were inhibitory at a ratio of 100:1,. Lymphoid cells from normal mice were not stimulatory at low ratios or inhibitory at any ratio tested. Both stimulatory and inhibitory activities disappeared by Day 20. Filtration of sensitized spleen cells through a glass wool column did not remove stimulatory or inhibitory activities. Subsequent passage through a nylon wool column resulted in a loss of stimulation, but not inhibition, of tumor cell growth. Stimulatory activity was completely abrogated by treatment with either anti-theta or rabbit anti-mouse gamma-globulin serum. A 1:1 mixture of spleen cells treated with either antisera did not restore stimulation. Spleen cells from T-cell- or B-cell-deficient mice bearing the tumor for 6 days were also not stimulatory. The results suggest that immunostimulation of tumor growth in vitro is mediated by a lymphoid cell that is distinct from the cytotoxic effector cell.