Identification of ganglio-N-tetraosylceramide as a new cell surface marker for murine natural killer (NK) cells.

The BCG-induced NK cell activity of murine peritoneal exudate cells was abolished by preincubation of effector cells with anti-ganglio-N-tetraosylceramide (anti-asialo GM1) and C but not with other anti-glycolipid antibodies, anti-ganglioside GM1, anti-globoside, and anti-ganglio-N-triosylceramide (anti-asialo GM2). In contrast, the cytotoxic activity of alloimmune T cells was not affected by treatment with anti-asialo GM1 antisera. These findings suggest that asialo GM1 display may be characteristic of NK cell populations and aid in the isolation of this population of cytotoxic cells.