Reversal of natural killing susceptibility in target cells expressing transfected class I HLA genes.

A number of studies have suggested that resistance of target cells to natural killing (NK) may be correlated with their level of expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I antigens. To examine this hypothesis directly, a NK-sensitive class I-deficient human B-cell line was transfected with MHC class I genes. The expression of transfected HLA, but not H-2, class I gene products resulted in loss of susceptibility to human NK-mediated conjugation and cytolysis. Furthermore, this protection did not extend to cytotoxicity mediated by interleukin 2-stimulated human NK effector cells.