YAC-1 tumor cells

An important immune function to evaluate in the context of immuno-deficiency, and one that represents a form of nonspecific immunity/host resistance, is the function of natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells are lymphocytes distinct from either B-cells or T-cells, which contribute to immunocompetence by mediating major histocompatibility complex-independent cytotoxicity (Lotzova 1993). For the purposes of these studies, a combined measurement of both basal and augmented NK cell function was used. In this assay, murine splenoc5des were exposed for 24 hours to various concentrations of drugs in the presence or absence of an optimum concentration of recombinant IL-2 (Thomas et al. 1993). The cells were then washed and cocultured for 4 hours with radiolabeled YAC-1 tumor cells (a murine NK-sensitive cell line). Tumor cell lysis was quantitated as described above for the CTL procedure. 

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