Determination of the reactivity of cytotoxic immune cells with preimplantation mouse embryos
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The Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology was founded to give students an understanding of life principles through the understanding of chemical and physical principles. Among these principles are frontiers of biotechnology such as metabolic networking, the structure of hormones and proteins, genomics, and the like.
History
The Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics was founded in 1959, and was administered by the College of Sciences and Humanities (later, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences). In 1979 it became co-administered by the Department of Agriculture (later, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences). In 1998 its name changed to the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology.
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1959–present
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- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics (1959–1998)
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- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
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Abstract
Cytotoxic immune cells were used in an assay, MELIA (mixed embryo leukocyte interaction assay) to test the ability of the cells to kill blastocyst stage embryos. The cytotoxic immune cells generated for use in this study, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), natural killer (NK) cells, and lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells were shown to have phenotypic and cytolytic characteristics similar to those reported by other investigators. The lysis of the blastocysts in the MELIA was determined by measuring the inhibition of blastocoel retention and/or by the inhibition of incorporation of tritiated thymidine (('3)H-TdR) into embryonic DNA. Blastocysts which possess or lack their zonae pellucidae were tested to determine whether the zona pellucida plays an immunoprotective role in preimplantation development. The results indicated that CTLs only lysed embryonic cells when the zona pellucida was absent, but NK and LAK cells lysed embryonic cells whether the zona pellucida was present or absent. The results suggest that the zona pellucida may protect the preimplantation mouse embryo from lysis by CTLs but what protects the embryo from lysis by NK and LAK cells is unclear.