Inhibition of cytolytic T lymphocyte maturation with ornithine, arginine, and putrescine.

L-Ornithine was shown to inhibit the development of cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) in mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLC). Lymphokines were unable to reverse the suppressive effect, and cytotoxic activity was not revealed by coupling ornithine-inhibited MLC cells to target cells with phytohemagglutinin (PHA). If addition of ornithine to MLC were delayed, sensitivity of CTL to inhibition was reduced after 24 hr and lost by 48 hr. Suppression of CTL development was not due to a toxic effect. MLC washed free of ornithine after 3 days produced detectable cytolytic activity within 24 hr of secondary culture, and to the same degree as the uninhibited MLC control within 48 hr. Cytotoxic cells generated in secondary cultures were Lyt-2+, did not kill the natural killer-sensitive YAC-1 cell line, and were shown to be antigen-specific by virtue of the findings that cytolysis and cold target inhibition were observed only with cells carrying the original, inducing H-2 haplotype. Cytolysis of target cells by normal CTL effector cells was not inhibited by L-ornithine. MLC depleted of accessory cells so that CTL activation was dependent upon addition of lymphokines remained susceptible to inhibition by ornithine. Our findings indicate that in the ornithine-inhibited MLC, CTL precursors undergo clonal expansion, but their maturation is arrested at a precytolytic stage. L-Arginine and putrescine also suppressed generation of CTL in primary MLC, and cells recovered from arginine- and putrescine-inhibited MLC developed control levels of CTL within 48 hr of secondary culture. Inhibition by putrescine was observed in tissue culture medium supplemented with human serum but not with fetal calf serum, presumably due to the presence of diamine oxidase activity in fetal calf serum. Similar to ornithine, the suppressive effects of arginine and putrescine on T lymphocytes were apparently selective for CTL because they did not inhibit mitogen activation with concanavalin A or the production of interleukin 2 and interleukin 3. These findings are consistent with a hypothesis that the inhibitory effects of ornithine, arginine, and putrescine are mediated by polyamines, and exerted on the differentiative stage of CTL development.