Susceptibility to cytotoxic T lymphocyte-induced apoptosis is a function of the proliferative status of the target

Effector Cells. In this investigation we used purified primary CD8 + spleen CTLs, induced by acute infection of adult C3H/ HeSnJ x C57BL/6J)F1 mice for 8 d with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), strain Armstrong (5). The use of these primary CTL (LCMV-CTL) precludes artifactual problems associated with CTL lines. These LCMV-CTL contain azurophilic granules and specifically induce the lysis and DNA fragraentation of LCMV-infected targets in an MHC class I-restricted fashion (7). A Con A lectin-dependent killing assay was used to bypass the requirements for specific antigen, in order to compare the susceptibility of various target cells to CTL-induced apoptosis (5) .