title: Mistletoe lectin I-induced effects on human cytotoxic lymphocytes. I. Synergism with IL-2 in the induction of enhanced LAK cytotoxicity.
abstract: This report demonstrates that in vitro activation of human cells with the beta-galactoside-specific lectin from mistletoe (ML-I) or interleukin-2 (IL-2) results in different patterns of activation and function of cytotoxic cells. It is now well established that natural killer (NK) and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cytotoxicity is mainly mediated by resting (NK) and IL-2-activated (LAK) CD56-positive (+) cells respectively. Culture of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) for 3 days with ML-I led to expansion and activation of T cells which demonstrated NK- and LAK-like cytotoxicity. T lymphocyte subset analysis revealed that in total PBL, ML-I preferentially stimulated and expanded CD8+ T cells which mediated the cytotoxic effect. Incubation of highly purified CD8+ T cells alone with ML-I did not lead to induction of cytotoxicity, which required the presence of both CD4+ and CD14+ (monocytes) cells, suggesting that ML-I does not exert a direct effect on CD8+ T cells. Activation of PBL with both ML-I and IL-2 resulted in simultaneous induction of T and CD56+ cell-mediated NK and LAK cytotoxicity. These data suggest that treatment with ML-I and IL-2 might provide an approach to induce maximum cytotoxicity against tumors and to recruit both T and NK cells for tumor therapy.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Center, St. Savas Cancer Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Baxevanis
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Voutsas
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Soler
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Gritzapis
authors.forename: O E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Tsitsilonis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stoeva
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Voelter
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arsenis
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papamichail
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D004357:Drug Synergism; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015979:Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated / Q000276:immunology*; D028321:Plant Preparations; D010940:Plant Proteins; D054790:Ribosome Inactivating Proteins, Type 2; D014118:Toxins, Biological / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D028321:Plant Preparations; D010940:Plant Proteins; D054790:Ribosome Inactivating Proteins, Type 2; D014118:Toxins, Biological; C488862:mistletoe lectin I; C009674:ribosome inactivating protein, Viscum