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Selective growth of natural cytotoxic but not natural killer effector cells in interleukin-3

Nature volume 306, pages 788–791 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

Interleukin-3 (IL-3) can promote the proliferation of certain classes of lymphocytes distinct from those that are dependent on interleukin-2 (IL-2) for growth1–5. Culture conditions for its production are identical to those required for IL-2 and in both cases the producer cell appears to be Thy 1.2+, Lyt1+, Lyt2− (refs 1–5). However, unlike the IL-2 responder cells, the cells that proliferate in IL-3 are generally Lyt2− (ref. 1). Here we have measured the natural cytotoxic (NC) activity as well as natural killer (NK) cell activity of the IL-3-dependent cells. Both of these activities are part of a repertoire of spontaneous cytotoxic functions found in mice that might serve in early defence against infectious agents or immunosurveillance against tumours in vivo6–12. We report a new finding that IL-3 selectively maintains NC cells but not NK cells in culture. This is in contrast to the known requirement for IL-2 in NK cell growth13. This provides a means of isolating NC cells from NK cells in the mouse as an initial step in the study of the relative contribution of these two cell types in tumour immunity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Virology, Office of Biologics, Bethesda, Maryland, 20205, USA

    Julie Y. Djeu, Emanuela Lanza & Simonetta Pastore

  2. Biological Carcinogenesis Program, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, 21701, USA

    Andrew J. Hapel

Authors
  1. Julie Y. Djeu
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  2. Emanuela Lanza
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  3. Simonetta Pastore
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  4. Andrew J. Hapel
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Djeu, J., Lanza, E., Pastore, S. et al. Selective growth of natural cytotoxic but not natural killer effector cells in interleukin-3. Nature 306, 788–791 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/306788a0

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