NK cell-target interactions: approaches towards definition of recognition structures.

NK cells lyse an uncommonly wide range of cell types, implying either that they (the NK cells) have clonally distributed receptors each of which is capable of interacting with a very limited number of cell types or, alternatively, that susceptible target cells share a common characteristic. A number of experimental approaches have suggested that the cytotoxic 'specificity' of NK cells is not clonally distributed. Thus, clones of NK cells, established from mouse spleen cell suspensions, showed no greater restriction in the spectrum of target cells which they could lyse, than did the parent spleen cell populations from which they were derived. It seems likely therefore that the wide range of target cell types that can be lysed by NK cells share common cell surface characteristics which render them susceptible. As lysis results from membrane-membrane interactions, it seemed logical that a search for 'hallmarks' of NK susceptibility should begin with a detailed examination of the plasma membrane of susceptible cells. Analysis of one pair of lymphoma cell variants, selected on account of their markedly different susceptibility to NK cells, suggests that cell surface glycoconjugates may be of significance in determining those effector cell-target cell interactions that lead to lysis. This review outlines attempts to characterize such glycoconjugates.