Activation of T cells is a necessary step in the development of a specific antitumor immune response. In the present study, we evaluated the ability of Gr-1+ myeloid cells, derived from the bone marrow or spleen of tumor-bearing mice, to inhibit CD3/CD28-mediated T cell activation. Using flow cytometry, we found that growth of a murine colon carcinoma (MCA-26) induces a significant increase in the number of Gr-1+ and Gr-1+/Mac-1+ myeloid cells in both bone marrow and spleen of the tumor host. The proliferative response of T cells was dramatically decreased when naive T cells were activated by anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 Abs in the presence of a myeloid-enriched cell fraction derived from spleen or bone marrow of tumor-bearing mice vs the bone marrow of naive mice. Reversal of the inhibitory effect could be achieved by adding a combination of MnTBAP (manganese [III] tetrakis [4-benzoic acid]) porphyrin and l-NMMA (N G-monomethyl-l-arginine), a superoxide dismutase mimetic and inducible NO synthase inhibitor, respectively, or by depletion of the Gr-1-positive cells. IFN-γ, which is endogenously produced by CD3/CD28-stimulated naive T cells, is involved in induction of the inhibitory activity of myeloid cells. Importantly, when T cells pre-activated with anti-CD3 Abs were used as responder cells, the bone marrow-or spleen-derived Gr-1+ myeloid cells were unable to suppress CD3/CD28-induced T cell proliferation. Our findings suggest that one mechanism by which an increased number of immune suppressive Gr-1+ cells can induce T cell unresponsiveness or immune tolerance in tumor hosts could be through peroxynitrite production upon primary T cell activation.