N-ACETYLCYSTEINE REDUCES TRANSFORMED 3T3-SV40 FIBROBLAST SENSITIVITY TO LYSIS BY NATURAL KILLER CELLS
N. A. Filatova, K. M. Kirpichnikova, I. A. Gamaley 1
Institute of Cytology RAS, St. Petersburg;
1 e-mail: igamaley@mail.cytspb.rssi.ru
We have shown that 18-20 h cultivation of transformed mouse fibroblasts 3T3-SV40 in the presence of antioxidant,
N-acetylcysteine (NAC, 10 mM), did not change their sensitivity to lysis by natural killer (NK) mouse splenocytes.
However, in 18-20 h after NAC removal 3T3-SV40 cells demonstrated resistance to NK cell activity. The cytotoxicity
index (CI) was reduced up to 4.6 ± 2.4 % (in comparison with the control value 31.8 ± 2.4 %) approximating to the
value in non-transformed 3T3 mouse fibroblasts. Normal 3T3 cells were resistant to NK action in all experimental
conditions (CI varied within 0.7-5.3 %). These results show that NAC can induce partial reversion of transformed
phenotype. We suggest that this effect may be due to the NAC-induced modifications of the cell surface and
extracellular matrix proteins.
Key words: natural killers, N-acetylcysteine, cytotoxicity index, transformed fibroblasts 3T3-SV40
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