We examined the regulation of leukocyte glass adherence and tube leukocyte adherence inhibition (LAI) reactivity by serum factors in dogs with regressing or progressing canine transmissible venereal sarcomas (CTVS).
Both regressor and progressor peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL), draining and nondraining lymph node cells (LNC), and splenic leukocytes were significantly responsive to CTVS antigen extract in tube LAI. In contrast, a significant decrease in basal glass adherence of progressor PBL, draining and nondraining LNC, and splenic leukocytes was observed. Normal glass adherence was restored to progressor leukocytes by extensive washing with warm serum-free media, while significant tube L A I responsiveness to CTVS antigen extract was maintained. Preincubation of regressor PBL and L N C with progressor sera in two-stage tube LAI decreased the basal glass adherence of treated leukocytes. This effect of progressor sera was heat labile, a characteristic of CTVS antigen. Collectively, these findings suggest that progessor leukocytes and progressor sera treated regressor leukocytes were activated by interaction with serum CTVS antigen and thus behaved in tube LAI as stimulated cells, even in the absence of CTVS antigen. Regressor but not progressor sera were shown to contain anti-CTVS IgG with specific arming activity for normal dog PBL, but not LNC in two-stage tube LAI. The nonadherent response of peripheral blood neutrophils in two-stage tube LAI was proportional to the concentration of arming IgG, whereas no change was observed in glass adherence of PBL. The results of this study define the role of progressor and regressor serum factors in the mechanism of tube LAI and demonstrate a relationship between leukocyte glass adherence and the clinical course of CTVS. These findings show that tube L A I is a simple and reproducible measure of active factors in the immune response to a tumor.