In vitro induction of tumor-specific immunity. II. Activation of cytotoxic lymphocytes to murine oncofetal antigens.

The presence of oncofetal antigens (OFA) on a wide variety of murine tumor cells was demonstrated to a totally in vitro system of cellular immunity. Nonimmune spleen lymphocytes were cocultivated with irradiated syngeneic fetal liver cells and, at various times after initiation of culture, were tested for the presence of cytotoxic lymphocytes (CL) by 51Cr-release assay with labeled tumor target cells. Significant cytotoxic activity was regularly detected after such culture, whereas only minor levels appeared in control cultures of spleen lymphocytes with irradiated syngeneic spleen cells. Specificity of the reaction was assessed by inhibition tests in which nonlabeled cells were admixed to the CL and 51Cr-labeled tumor targets. Fetal liver cells gave significant inhibition; however, no inhibition was found with adult spleen cells. Various tumor types gave inhibition, and fibrosarcomas were more effective than plasmacytomas or lymphomas. The results suggested that all tumor types tested possess such OFA, as well as their unique or virus-associated, tumor-associated transplantation antigens, and that the in vitro system permits a more active response to the tumor-associated OFA than that observed in in vivo studies.