Viral specificity of H-2-restricted T killer cells directed against syngeneic tumors induced by Gross, Friend, or Rauscher leukemia virus.

Abstract

Cytolytic T [thymus-derived] lymphocytes (CTL) were generated against murine tumors induced by Gross, Friend or Rauscher leukemia virus (LV) in syngeneic mixed leukocyte-tumor cell cultures. Analogous to the patterns of specificity observed with antibodies to LV-induced cell surface antigens, CTL could be classified into 2 major groups of specificity. Tumor cells induced by Friend, Moloney or Rauscher [FMR] virus and positive for the FMR antigen were killed by syngeneic CTL immune to any of these 3 LV; the same CTL were incapable of killing syngeneic tumor cells induced by Gross LV. The converse was true for Gross LV-specific CTL: these CTL were specific for syngeneic tumor cells expressing the Gross virus-associated cell-surface antigen (GCSA) and not the FMR antigen. The H-2 specificities of the 2 groups of LV-immune CTL were also compared because, in both cases, CTL were restricted in their killing activity to H-2-identical tumor target cells. When CTL from single strains of mice were generated against syngeneic FMR- or GCSA-positive tumor cells, differences were observed with respect to the requirement for the expression of compatible H-2K or H-2D specificities and to the intensity of the CTL response in congenic mice of the H-2b, H-2d and H-2k haplotypes.