The elevated natural killer sensitivity of targets carrying surface-attached C3 fragments require the availability of the iC3b receptor (CR3) on the effectors.

Human serum-treated Raji and Daudi cells were shown to bind C3 fragments on their surface as a consequence of their capacity to activate C via the alternative pathway. C3 molecules were detectable on the cell surfaces up to 24 h after serum exposure. The C3 fragment-coated cells showed increased sensitivity to spontaneous lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity. The effector lymphocytes involved in the enhanced cytotoxicity were NK cells with low buoyant density, carrying both CR3 and FcR. Blocking of the FcR and CR3 with F(ab)2 fragments from Leu-11c or Leu-15 mAb, respectively, did not influence the lysis of targets that did not carry C3 fragments. In contrast, the accessibility of CR3 on the effector lymphocytes was essential for the C3 fragment-mediated enhancement of cytotoxicity. In addition to the Leu-15 antibody, N-acetyl-D-Glucosamine, a compound known to block iC3b binding to CR3, also abrogated the C3 fragment-imposed effect. Our previous experiments showed that the C3 fragments bind to acceptor sites on target cells. The present experiments show that the C3 fragments fixed onto the target bind to CR3 on effector cells. These data substantiate the hypothesis that the bivalent C3 fragments, which are fixed on the targets, promote their interaction with lytic lymphocytes by bridging the two cells.