Open AccessIn vitro Augmentation of Natural Killer Cell Activity and Production of Interferon‐α/β and ‐γ with Deoxyribonucleic Acid Fraction from Mycobacterium bovis BCG
Author(s) -
Yamamoto Saburo,
Kuramoto Etsuro,
Shimada Shizuo,
Tokunaga Tohru
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
japanese journal of cancer research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1349-7006
pISSN - 0910-5050
DOI - 10.1111/j.1349-7006.1988.tb00049.x
Subject(s) - in vitro , interferon , biology , spleen , microbiology and biotechnology , antiserum , mycobacterium bovis , dna synthesis , cytotoxic t cell , nucleic acid , rnase p , natural killer cell , biochemistry , virology , immunology , antigen , rna , medicine , mycobacterium tuberculosis , tuberculosis , pathology , gene
A nucleic acid‐rich fraction extracted and purified from BCG (MY‐1) augmented natural killer (NK) cell activity of mouse spleen cells in vitro , and produced factor(s) which showed anti‐viral activity and rendered normal macrophages cytotoxic towards tumor cells. These cellular responses were induced by the MY‐1 digested preliminarily with RNase, but not by the MY‐1 digested with DNase, indicating that DNA contained in MY‐1 was essential for the responses. The function of the factor to activate macrophages was destroyed by treatment with a small amount of anti‐interferon (IFN)‐γ antiserum or under acidic conditions (pH 2), but not by treatment with anti‐IFN‐α/β antiserum, while the anti‐viral activity was destroyed almost completely by treatment with anti‐IFN‐α/β antiserum. It appears that DNA from BCG stimulated mouse spleen cells in vitro , resulting in augmentation of NK activity and production of IFN‐α/β and ‐γ.