Comparison of three isotopic assays of cell-mediated cytotoxicity against mouse tumor cells. I. Basic parameters: baseline controls, target cells, and methods of calculation.

We compared three ddifferent isotopic assays of cell-mediated cytotoxicity under identical test conditions: 51Cr, 125iododeoxyuridine, and [3H]proline release assays. We made these comparisons both in a syngeneic mouse tumor system and an allogeneic system. It was found that several parameters could affect considerably the results obtained with these tests, such as: baseline controls, preparation of target cells, and methods of calculation. In comparison of three different baseline controls, the normal control gave the most consistent results, whereas the other two controls (autologous and medium controls) gave varying results depending upon the condition of the target cells. For use as target cells, established tissue culture cells were usually superior because of a much lower spontaneous release of the isotope, when compared to fresh ascites tumor cells or short-term tissue culture cells. The advantage of established culture cells was particularly noted in isotopic assays with prolonged incubation (20-40 hr). In addition, the methods used for calculation were also shown to affect the apparent outcome of the results.