title: T-cells for tumor therapy can be obtained from antigen-loaded sponge implants.
abstract: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the therapeutic use of tumor-specific T-cells obtained from s.c. Ag (antigen)-loaded sponge implants. Naive C57BL/6 mice were implanted with small, polyurethane sponges containing irradiated FBL-3 tumor cells. On day 10, cells that had accumulated in the sponges were harvested and tested for specific cytolytic and proliferative function in vitro. The results demonstrated that CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells immune to FBL-3 could both be primed in and obtained from the Ag-loaded sponge implants. Limiting dilution analysis demonstrated that the frequency of FBL-3-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes elicited from Ag-loaded sponges was four times greater than the frequency from draining lymph nodes and at least 50 times greater than from spleen and peripheral blood. Tumor-specific T-cells could similarly be obtained from Ag-loaded sponges implanted into previously primed mice and into mice bearing disseminated FBL-3. In both circumstances, elicited T-cells exhibited much higher cytolytic activity than T-cells from sponges implanted in naive mice, indicating an in situ accumulation and expansion of primed T-cells in response to the antigen stimulation. Tumor-specific T-cells obtained from Ag-loaded sponge implants could be grown long-term in vitro by periodic restimulation with irradiated FBL-3 and low concentrations of interleukin 2. Adoptive transfer of the resultant expanded T-cell lines into mice with disseminated FBL-3 revealed that cultured sponge-infiltrating T-cells could mediate effective antitumor therapy. Thus, in vivo immunization with Ag-loaded sponges provides a potentially useful technique for procuring primed, Ag-specific T-cells for tumor therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Reese
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cheever
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000628:therapy*; D011161:Porifera; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens