Antitumor response independent of functional B or T lymphocytes induced by the local and sustained release of interleukin-2 by the tumor cells

Transfection of tumor cells with a vector containing the entire coding sequence of human interleukin-2 (hIL-2) was previously shown to convert the tumorigenic murine fibrosarcoma line CMS-5 into a non-tumorigenic line. The failure of the IL-2-secreting tumor to grow in conventional (immunocompetent) mice was attributed to the activation of CD8+ T cells that exhibited tumor specificity and memory. In order to determine whether or not the IL-2 produced by the tumor may be activating tumor cytotoxic effector cells other than B or T cells we have repeated this study using immunodeficient SCID and SCID-beige mice as syngeneic tumor recipients. In contrast to the rapid growth of the wild-type tumor, the hIL-2-transfected cells (N2A/IL2/CMS5) did not grow, or grew more slowly and regressed, in the mice that lack functional B and T cells. The inhibition of tumor growth associated with the local release of IL-2 was reversed in mice treated with antiasialo-GM1 antibodies specific for natural killer (NK) lineage cells. In contrast to the studies with conventional mice, the IL-2-dependent effector cells in the immunodeficient mice exhibited no evidence of memory. In vitro analysis of spleen cells from tumor-bearing mice revealed the presence of effector cells able to lyse YAC-1 target cells as well as the wild-type CMS-5 and the IL-2-transfected variant tumor lines but unable to lyse P815 cells. The pattern of selective target cell killing and the kinetics of killing were indistinguishable from those observed using tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) the mediator associated with natural cytotoxicity cell killing of tumor cells. Histopathology of the IL-2-secreting tumors in SCID mice reveals the presence of infiltrating lymphoid cells and macrophages that were not observed in the CMS-5 tumors. Consistent with the notion that the tumor killing in the SCID mice was mediated by TNF alpha, mice bearing IL-2-secreting tumors had elevated levels of serum TNF alpha and little or no effector cell activity, or TNF alpha was found in tumor-bearing mice treated with anti-asialo-GM1 antibody. The results indicate that the cytokine-induced tumor regression observed in the IL-2-transfected tumors is a more complex phenomenon than previously recognized and one that is mediated by effector cells of the NK cell and/or monocyte/macrophage lineages, in addition to CD8+ T cells.