Ganglioside GM2 on the K562 cell line is recognized as a target structure by human natural killer cells

✍ Scribed by Iwao Ando; Dave S. B. Hoon; Yasuo Suzuki; Romaine E. Saxton; Sidney H. Golub; Reiko F. Irie

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 597 KB
• Volume: 40
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.2910400104

✦ Synopsis

Although human N K cells lyse a wide spectrum of target cells, the precise target structure recognized by N K cells has not yet been elucidated. In order to define a possible relationship between gangliosides on human target cells and susceptibility to N K lysis. 14 human leukemia and lymphoma cell lines were studied. A significant correlation was observed between the quantity of ganglioside GM2 on the target cells and sensitivity to N K lysis. In a single-cell binding assay purified GM2 specifically inhibited human N K cell binding to K562 target cells while other gangliosides did not inhibit binding. The competitive inhibition of N K cells by GM2 was restricted to the source of tissue from which GM2 was isolated. These results indicate that GM2 is a strong candidate as a target recognition structure for human N K cells.