Journal of leukocyte biology
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All peritoneal macrophage (pM phi) populations studied exhibited some binding of the anti-asGM1 serum as assessed by flow cytometry. The levels of reactivity varied quantitatively among populations, depending on the combination of eliciting and activating agents employed prior to the harvest of pM phi. Resident pM phi contained a very small percentage (4%) of cells that were strongly asGM1+. ⋯ This increased expression of asGM1 may be a useful marker for some aspects of macrophage heterogeneity, but increased expression is not necessarily directly related to expression of tumoricidal activity. In fact, the results of this study demonstrate that anti-asGM1 serum can be used for specific depletion of NK activity in vivo in normal mice and in mice treated with at least some BRMs. However, the results also demonstrate that the use of eliciting agents, particularly thioglycollate, or eliciting agents in conjunction with activating agents can cause pM phi to become reactive with anti-asGM1 serum.