Identification of Natural Killer Cells by Immunoelectron Microscopy.

We employed immunoelectron microscopic techniques to localize natural killer cells (NK cells) in human lymph node and tonsil. These tissues were embedded in Lowicryl K4M. Thin sections were first reacted with anti-Leu-7 followed by anti-UCHL. Colloidal gold particles of different sizes were used as a label. NK cells were localized primarily in paracortical T-cell regions. The cells typed with these antisera include both large granular and agranular lymphocytes. No other cell types expressed the NK phenotype. These results illustrate the versatility of immunoelectron microscopy to solve problems beyond the resolution of the light microscope.