title: Heterogeneity of biologic responses of melanoma-specific CTL.
abstract: To better understand how Ag density influences the various biologic responses of CTL, we analyzed lysis and, at the single cell level, cytokine production by a panel of melanoma-specific CTL clones. Titration experiments done with peptide-pulsed TAP-deficient T2 cells indicated that: 1) Ag density affects both the fraction of responding cells and the amount of cytokine secreted by each cell. 2) Different responses have a relative Ag requirement that may vary between clones. Lysis and secretion of IFN-gamma, and for most clones' secretion of TNF-alpha, required lower Ag densities, by one or two logs, than IL-2 and granulocyte-macrophage CSF secretion. 3) In a significant fraction of IFN-gamma-secreting cells, IL-2 production is not induced. 4) A large fraction of cloned cells is refractory to lymphokine gene activation for about 2 wk after previous stimulation. Together these data indicate that CTL biologic responses are controlled by variable Ag thresholds and by additional parameters affecting activation requirements of each cell. A similar heterogeneity of cytokine responses was observed to Ag endogenously presented by melanoma cells. As a consequence, most melanoma lines, including those with the highest Ag expression, could trigger only low CTL fractions to secrete IL-2 and, also for most clones, granulocyte-macrophage CSF. This may be an important component of the inefficiency of specific CTL in cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: INSERM Unit 463 and Faculté des Sciences de Nantes, France.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Fonteneau
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Le Dréan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Le Guiner
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gervois
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Diez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jotereau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D019556:COS Cells; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D016207:Cytokines