Reduced Tumorigenicity of a Spontaneous Mouse Lung Carcinoma Following H-2 Gene Transfection

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1987-07, Vol.84 (13), p.4562-4566
• Main Authors: Bahler, David W., Frelinger, John G., Harwell, Lee W., Lord, Edith M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antigens; Antigens, Neoplasm - genetics; Antigens, Neoplasm - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma - genetics; Carcinoma - immunology; Carcinoma - pathology; Cell growth; Cell lines; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Graft Rejection; H-2 Antigens - genetics; H-2 Antigens - physiology; Histocompatibility Antigen H-2D; Histocompatibility antigens class I; Lung Neoplasms - genetics; Lung Neoplasms - immunology; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred Strains; Molecules; Neoplasm Transplantation; Spleen cells; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Tissue, organ and graft immunology; Transfection; Transplantation, Homologous; Tumor cell line; Tumors
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.84.13.4562

Cultured cells of the murine lung carcinoma called line 1 express very low levels of H-2 class I antigens and are resistant to lysis mediated by alloreactive T cells. In order to investigate how the expression of class I antigens affects the in vivo growth of this spontaneous tumor, H-2Dp genes were transferred into line 1 cells. Cloned transfectants that displayed H-2Dp surface antigens were identified using flow cytometry. The transfected H-2Dp antigens appeared normal by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and could also function as excellent targets for T-cell-mediated lysis in vitro. Marked differences in tumorigenicity (defined as tumor growth in immunologically competent hosts) were observed between the Dp transfected cells and untransfected or control transfected line 1 cells in syngeneic mice only if the animals had previously received injections of irradiated Dp transfectants. Expression of Dp antigens did not appreciably affect the growth of line 1 tumors in immunologically naive syngeneic mice or necessarily cause rejection in allogeneic mice. Our in vivo results show that increased expression of class I antigens can reduce the growth of tumors like line 1 that lack all class I antigens. Our results also suggest that increasing class I antigens alone on some spontaneous tumors deficient in expression will not by itself be sufficient for tumor rejection.