Supramolecular attack particles are autonomous killing entities released from cytotoxic T cells

Abstract

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) kill infected and cancerous cells. We detected transfer of cytotoxic multiprotein complexes from CTLs to target cells, termed supramolecular attack particles (SMAPs). SMAPs were rapidly released from CTLs and were autonomously cytotoxic. Mass spectrometry, immunochemical analysis and CRISPR editing identified a C-terminal fragment of thrombospondin-1 as an unexpected SMAP component that contributed to target killing. Direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy resolved a cytotoxic core surrounded by a thrombospondin-1 shell of ~120 nm diameter. Cryo-soft x-ray tomography analysis revealed that SMAPs had a carbon-dense shell and were stored in multicore granules. We propose that SMAPs are autonomous extracellular killing entities that deliver cytotoxic cargo based on specificity of shell components.