Preactivation and phenotype of monocytes have no influence on their elimination from culture by activated T lymphocytes.

T lymphocytes can kill antigen-presenting cells (APC) in the presence of antigen or lectin. The subject of this study was to investigate whether the state of activation or phenotype of monocytes, influence their susceptibility to killing by T cells activated with pokeweed mitogen (PWM) or anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody. The data are presented which show that monocytes activation with cytokines (IFN-gamma, IL-4, or IL-2), PPD, phorbol ester or phagocytic stimulus, have no influence on monocyte susceptibility to killing by T lymphocytes. Furthermore, flow cytometry data suggest that monocytes eliminated from culture have no characteristic phenotype. In conclusion, our data indicate that elimination of monocytes by activated T lymphocytes does not depend on the state of activation of monocytes.