Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, 05 1994, 342-347, Vol 1, No. 3
Copyright © 1994 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Comparison of cytotoxic properties of neonatal and adult neutrophils and monocytes and enhancement by cytokines

ER Stiehm, RL Roberts, BJ Ank, S Plaeger-Marshall, N Salman, L Shen and MW Fanger
Department of Pediatrics, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90024-1752, USA.

We studied cytotoxic capabilities of newborn polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and monocytes and their enhancement by cytokines and antibodies. Umbilical cord PMNs were assessed for their ability to kill various target cells spontaneously, after activation with phorbol myristate acetate, in the presence of antiserum (antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity), and in the presence of dually specific antibody (heteroantibody-mediated cytotoxicity). Target cells included the K562 cell line (natural killer cell target), chicken erythrocytes (CRBCs), and herpes simplex virus-infected CEM cell lines. Newborn PMNs were equivalent to adult PMNs in their cytotoxic capacity in several cytotoxicity assays. Neither adult nor newborn PMNs lyse tumor cell targets (i.e., K562 cells) spontaneously, but both lyse K562 cells following activation with phorbol myristate acetate. Both adult and newborn PMNs lyse CRBCs and herpes simplex virus-infected CEM cells in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity assays, and this lysis could be enhanced by the cytokines granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and gamma interferon. PMN heteroantibody-mediated cytotoxicity, resulting from the use of an antibody with dual specificity to CRBCs and immunoglobulin G FcRII, was greater in newborn PMNs than in adult PMNs; however, monocyte heteroantibody-mediated cytotoxicity, resulting from the use of an antibody to CRBCs and monocyte immunoglobulin G FcRI, was lower in newborn monocytes than in adult monocytes. The percentage, but not the density, of PMNs expressing FcRII was significantly reduced in newborn PMNs compared with that in adult PMNs, while the percentages and densities of FcRI expression were equivalent in newborn and adult monocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Choi, S. S., Chhabra, V. S., Nguyen, Q. H., Ank, B. J., Stiehm, E. R., Roberts, R. L. (2004). Interleukin-15 Enhances Cytotoxicity, Receptor Expression, and Expansion of Neonatal Natural Killer Cells in Long-Term Culture. CVI 11: 879-888 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nguyen, Q. H., Roberts, R. L., Ank, B. J., Lin, S.-J., Lau, C. K., Stiehm, E. R. (1998). Enhancement of Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity of Neonatal Cells by Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IL-12. CVI 5: 98-104 [Abstract] [Full Text]