Autologous human cellular cytotoxicity induced by mitogenic and nonmitogenic lectins

Autologous systems are of great interest in the study of cellular cytotoxicity. By eliminating considerations of previous allogeneic sensitization, an autologous system allows straight forward study of effector mechanisms. The induction of lymphocytotoxicity by a variety of plant lectins toward xenogeneic, allogeneic, or syngeneic target cells has been described. Although early studies of lectin induced lymphocytotoxicity demonstrated a close correlation between the degree of mitogenic stimulation of the lymphocytes and subsequent cytotoxicity, recent work has suggested that the phenomena of mitogenesis and of cytoxocity may be independent of one another. The ability to fractionate phytohemagglutinin into its major components, and the existence of other plant lectins that are nonmitogenic, provide an opportunity to study human autologous cellular cytotoxicity induced by lectins, with particular attention directed to the relationship between cytotoxicity and mitogenicity. In this investigation, the authors have compared the ability of the mitogenic components of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and the nonmitogenic lectin, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), to cause autologous cellular cytotoxicity of human red blood cells (RBC).