Isolation of tyrosinase-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cell clones from the peripheral blood of melanoma patients following in vitro stimulation with recombinant vaccinia virus.
The identification of Ags expressed by tumor cells and recognized by autologous T cells has led to the prospect of treating cancer by adoptive transfer of tumor-reactive T cells selected for Ag specificity. Tyrosinase is an Ag expressed by normal melanocytes as well as melanoma cells for which responses by autologous T cells have been detected. To evaluate the frequency with which tyrosinase-specific T cells can be isolated from melanoma patients for potential use in therapy, a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing tyrosinase was constructed for infection of autologous APCs that could be used to stimulate T cells reactive with this protein. Eight patients were studied, with peripheral blood serving as the source of both responder T cells and autologous APCs. Tyrosinase-specific CD8+ CTL clones were isolated from five of the eight patients with melanoma. The tyrosinase-specific CTL generated in this manner recognized autologous tumor cells as well as targets expressing the recombinant virus vector. CTL clones from three of the individuals were restricted to HLA-A28, -B8, and -B60, which have not previously been identified as alleles that can present immunogenic tyrosinase peptides. Tyrosinase-specific CD4+ T cell clones were isolated from six of the eight patients by stimulation with autologous APCs infected with recombinant vaccinia virus, and all these CD4+ clones were capable of recognizing autologous tumor cells. These studies demonstrate a high prevalence of CD4+ and CD8+ tyrosinase-specific responses in peripheral blood and support the feasibility of using peripheral blood to generate T cells for tumor therapy without the requirement for isolating T cells that have infiltrated tumor sites.
Yee
C
C
Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.
Gilbert
M J
MJ
Riddell
S R
SR
Brichard
V G
VG
Fefer
A
A
Thompson
J A
JA
Boon
T
T
Greenberg
P D
PD
D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase / Q000276:immunology*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology*; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000276:immunology*
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase