Monitoring of effector and target cell stimulation during conjugation by fluorescence polarization.

The aim of the present study was to trace early intracellular changes induced in effector and target cells during their conjugation. This was performed by monitoring the intracellular fluorescein fluorescence polarization (IFFP), using the Cellscan apparatus. This apparatus permits the repetitive spectroscopic measurement of individual selected live cells within a population of many cells, while the location of each cell is known and preserved during the various cell manipulations and/or their suspending medium. Both natural killer (NK) and lymphocyte activated killer (LAK) cells were used as effector cells, while NK-sensitive K562 and NK-resistant Daudi cell lines were used as targets. In this study kinetic IFFP measurements were carried out for a period of approximately 4 h following cell attachment. Within minutes following effector-target conjugation, transient reduction of IFFP was observed consecutively, first in the effector and then in the target cells. A continuous reduction of IFFP occurring only in target cells was also found 50 min following conjugation. No reduction in IFFP was observed using NK- and LAK-resistant target cells. Good correlation was found between early stages of conjugation, as assessed by IFFP, and cytolytic efficiency as assessed by 51chromium release assay. When NK-resistant and LAK-resistant target cells were used, no reduction of IFFP was observed.