Cytotoxic T lymphocyte lines reactive against murine plasmacytoma antigens: dissociation of cytotoxicity and Lyt-2 expression.

The relationship between cell surface antigen expression and function in cytotoxic T cells directed against a non-H-2-restricted plasmacytoma antigen was examined using Lyt-2- variants of a continuous T cell line. This cytotoxic cell line originally had expressed Lyt-2 on all the cells as detected by flow microfluorometry, but after several months of culture, Lyt-2- variants spontaneously developed. Using cell sorting and limiting dilution cloning, Lyt-2- and Lyt-2+ cell lines were obtained, cultured and analyzed. These analyses indicated that such cytotoxic cells had similar activity regardless of Lyt-2 phenotype. This observation supports the concept that the Lyt-2 molecule is not obligatory for recognition and killing by cytotoxic T cells and emphasizes the need to clarify the precise relationship between cell surface phenotype and T cell function.