Specific cytotoxic activity of normal T-lymphocytes coated with multivalent hybrid antibody.

Mouse lymphoid cells treated with multivalent hybrid antibody consisting of rabbit IgG anti-T antibody and rabbit IgG anti-chicken red blood cell antibody formed rosettes and killed specifically chicken red blood cells. The attachment and killing of chicken red blood cells is due to multivalent hybrid antibody which is able to link with one antibody specificity (anti-T) the T-lymphocytes and with the other one the chicken red blood cell surface antigen(s). Some indirect results seem to suggest natural killer cells as a candidate for the multivalent hybrid antibody-induced cytolytic effects. Multivalent hybrid antibody can be a useful alternative to mitogen for assaying specifically the cytotoxic potential of various cell populations pre-existing in normal organisms and requiring only a link to the target cells to reveal their killing ability.