Tumour necrosis factor triggers granulocytes to internalize complement-coated virus particles.

Monocytes produced tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) upon interaction with infective herpes simplex virus (HSV). Therefore, TNF-alpha and its action were examined in the regulation of anti-viral functions of human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN). The uptake of fluorescein-labelled HSV by human PMN was monitored using flow cytometric analysis.

Uncoupling of oxidative and non-oxidative mechanisms in human granulocyte-mediated cytotoxicity: use of cytoplasts and cells from chronic granulomatous disease patient.

Human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and granule-free cytoplasts were compared for their cytotoxic capacities against red blood cells (RBC) and K562 tumor cells. Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) stimulated PMN to efficient lysis of RBC targets, while cytotoxicity against the tumor cell line K562 was moderate. Activated cytoplasts also lysed RBC targets but were not able to kill K562 tumor cells, even at high cell numbers.

Degradation of herpes simplex virions by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and monocytes.

The degradation of herpes simplex virus particles after uptake by phagocytes was studied, but, since lysis of the phagocyte also resulted in damage to the viral envelope, measurement of viral infectivity as a criterion of viral degradation after phagocytosis was not possible. Therefore we focused on later events in viral destruction, namely the degradation of macromolecules. We have demonstrated that polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and monocytes (MN) can rapidly degrade the membrane proteins of the phagocytosed herpes-virus virions.

The use of a hybridization assay for the study of host defences against herpes simplex virus.

A rapid and simple hybridization assay was developed as an alternative for virus titration for the investigation of host resistance against HSV-1 infections in vitro. The probe which was constructed for this assay was shown to be HSV-1-specific. When a monolayer of fibroblasts was infected for 24 h before hybridization, 15 PFU were detected reliably.

Antibody-coated target cell membrane-induced chemiluminescence by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Activation of the oxidative metabolic burst of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) by antibody-coated crude membrane fragments of K562 tumor cells was measured in a luminometer. Induction of the chemiluminescence (Cl) response was measured in the presence of luminol and lucigenin. The Cl was dependent on the concentration of PMN, the enhancer luminol or lucigenin, and the amount of tumor cell fragments and anti-K562 serum.