Mechanisms of immune lysis. I. Physiological distinction between target cell death mediated by cytotoxic T lymphocytes and antibody plus complement.

The pattern of progressive release of cytosolic (52Cr) and nuclear (125IUdR) labels from normal or tumor cells being lysed by CTL is strikingly different from the pattern observed when similar cells are lysed by Ab + C or hypotonic shock. We propose that these differences reflect physiologic differences in the lytic events associated with Ab + C- and CTL-mediated cell death.