Effects of stress on lysability of tumor targets by cytotoxic T cells and tumor necrosis factor

The effects of stress on four tumor cell lines are analyzed in view of the possibility that stress protects tumor cells against immune attack. We show that stress causes resistance to CTL and TNF in two cell lines. Induction of resistance is time dependent and reversible and not due to failure of killer cells to interact with stressed targets. It is shown that stress induces stress proteins concomitant with induction of resistance to killer cells and TNF. Moreover experiments are presented suggesting that resistance to either immune effector is due to independent mechanisms. The conclusion that stress can induce mechanisms in targets that interfere with the action of TNF as well as with target lysis following a lethal hit by CTL is discussed.