SUMMARYThe theory that Fas ligand (FasL)-expressing tumours are immune-privileged and can directly counterattack Fas-expressing effector T lymphocytes has recently been questioned and several alternative mechanisms have been proposed. To address this controversial issue, we analysed the impact of FasL-expressing tumours on in vivo-primed cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and the mechanisms involved. CTLs were obtained from the peritoneal cavity (PEL) after in vivo priming with syngeneic or allogeneic murine tumour cells. We have found that PEL populations undergo Fas-based apoptotic cell death when co-cultured with FasLexpressing tumour cells and that PEL destruction of cognate targets in a 51 Cr-release assay was markedly inhibited by the pre-exposure to either cognate or non-cognate tumour cells expressing FasL. Furthermore, cytocidal function of PEL was markedly inhibited by preincubation with FasL-negative tumour cells, if and only if they were the cognate targets of the CTL; this CTL inhibition involved FasL±Fas interactions. The killing function of bystander' PELs, reactive to a third-party target cell, was inhibited by co-cultivation with PELs mixed with their cognate target. This activation-induced CTL fratricide was not in¯uenced by the expression of FasL on the cognate target cells. These studies demonstrate the existence of two distinct pathways whereby FasL-expressing cells inhibit in vivo-primed FasL-and Fas-expressing CTLs: ®rst, by FasL-based direct tumour counterattack, and second, by FasL-mediated activation-induced cell death of the CTLs, which is consistent with the concept that FasL expression in vivo could play a role in inducing immune privilege.

CTL and NK cells use two distinct cytocidal pathways: 1) perforin and granzyme based and 2) CD95L/CD95 mediated. The former requires perforin expression by the effectors (CTL or NK), whereas the latter requires CD95 (Fas/APO-1) expression by the target. We have investigated how these two factors contribute to tumor immune surveillance by studying the immunity of perforin-deficient mice against the progressor C57BL/6 Lewis lung carcinoma 3LL, which expresses no CD95 when cultured in vitro. Unexpectedly, the results indicated that the perforin-independent CD95L/CD95 pathway of CTL/NK plays a role in acting against D122 and Kb39.5 (39.5) high and low metastatic sublines, respectively, derived from the 3LL tumor. Although no membrane-bound CD95 was detected on cultured D122 and 39.5 cells, surface CD95 expression on both D122 and 39.5 was considerably up-regulated when the tumors were grown in vivo. A similarly enhanced expression of CD95 was observed with three additional tumors; LF−, BW, and P815, injected into syngeneic and allogeneic mice. The finding of up-regulated CD95 expression on tumor cells placed in vivo suggests that a CD95-based mechanism plays a role in tumor immunity at early stages of tumor growth. Consequently, the progressive down-regulation of CD95 expression during tumor progression may indeed be an escape mechanism as previously reported. Together, these results suggest a role for CD95-dependent, perforin-independent immunity against certain tumors.

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