title: In vivo persistence of donor cells following adoptive transfer of allogeneic dendritic cells in HIV-infected patients.
abstract: Peripheral blood samples from HIV-seropositive individuals enrolled in a pilot clinical trial investigating the use of allogeneic dendritic cell therapy were evaluated for mixed chimerism. In this study, dendritic cells from HLA-identical, HIV-seronegative siblings were used. Patients received an infusion of dendritic cells pulsed with HIV MN gp160 protein or with peptides from HLA-A2 restricted epitopes of env, gag, and pol proteins every month for 6-9 months. Of the five allogeneic dendritic cell recipients, two showed increases in HIV antigen-specific immune responses. Allele-specific polymorphisms were identified in three sib-pairs that allowed infused donor cells to be detected using sensitive PCR-based molecular methods. Analysis of blood samples from patients showed similar patterns of donor cell persistence after the first infusion, in that cells were detectable for at least 1 week. Also, differences were observed in the kinetics of cell survival between the first and subsequent infusion cycles in all three patients. This suggests variation in HIV-specific immune responses detected among these three patients was not due to differences in persistence of infused donor cells.
authors.affiliation: Dendreon Corporation, Seattle, WA 98121, USA. michael_shapero@affymax.com
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Shapero
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kundu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Engleman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laus
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: van Schooten
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Merigan
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D002470:Cell Survival; D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D008297:Male; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D009679:Nuclear Family; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018183:Transplantation Chimera; D014998:Y Chromosome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D005914:Globins; D004247:DNA