Role of natural killer cells in resistance against friend retrovirus-induced leukemia

We have previously shown that immunization with a synthetic peptide that contains a single CD4(+) T-cell epitope protects mice against immunosuppressive Friend retrovirus infection. Cells producing infectious Friend virus were rapidly eliminated from the spleens of mice that had been immunized with the single-epitope peptide. However, actual effector mechanisms induced through T-helper-cell responses after Friend virus inoculation were unknown. When cytotoxic effector cells detected in the early phase of Friend retrovirus infection were separated based on their expression of cell surface markers, those lacking CD4 and CD8 but expressing natural killer cell markers were found to constitute the majority of effector cells that lysed Friend virus-induced leukemia cells. Depletion of natural killer cells by injecting anti-asialo-ganglio-N-tetraosylceramide antibody did not affect the number of CD4(+) or CD8(+) T cells in the spleen, virus antigen-specific proliferative responses of CD4(+) T cells, or cytotoxic activity against Friend virus-induced leukemia cells exerted by CD8(+) effector cells. However, the same treatment markedly reduced the killing activity of CD4(-) CD8(-) effector cells and completely abolished the effect of peptide immunization. Although the above enhancement of natural killer cell activity in the early stage of Friend virus infection was also observed in mice given no peptide, these results have demonstrated the importance and requirement of natural killer cells in vaccine-induced resistance against the retroviral infection.