Enhanced Immune Recognition of H-2 Antigen-deficient Murine Lung Carcinoma Cells following Treatment with Dimethyl Sulfoxide

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) has previously been shown to increase the surface expression of H-2K and H-2D antigens on cultured line 1 carcinoma cells. H-2 densities increase from initial levels barely detectable with flow cytometry to those found on normal BALB/c spleen cells. Here we compare the susceptibilities of untreated and DMSO-treated line 1 cells to lysis mediated by H-2d specific monoclonal antibodies and complement, cytotoxic T-cells, and natural killer cells. Induced H-2 antigens appear to function normally in that DMSO-treated cells are highly susceptible to all types of H-2-restricted immune lysis, whereas untreated line 1 cells are not. DMSO does not increase lysis of line 1 cells mediated by natural killer cells. Our results suggest that DMSO could be used to make the growth of major histocompatibility complex antigen-deficient tumors more sensitive to T-cell-mediated immunological resistance.