title: Generation of chronic myelogenous leukemia-specific T cells in cytokine-modified autologous mixed lymphocyte/tumor cell cultures.
abstract: Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) may be amenable to cell-based adoptive immunotherapy, as suggested by the graft-versus-leukemia effect of bone marrow transplantation and the therapeutic benefit of donor leukocyte infusions. Specific adoptive immunotherapy without bone marrow transplantation might be more effective and less cost-intensive. Professional antigen-presenting cells, the dendritic cells, from patients with CML are derived from the malignant clone and may stimulate antileukemia T-cell responses. Autologous T cells may also be able to recognize tumor antigens on CML cells directly. Here, the authors show that CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses to autologous CML cells can be generated in vitro rapidly and effectively by performing modified autologous mixed lymphocyte/tumor cell cultures (MLTC) in serum-free medium in the presence of cytokines known to support dendritic cell differentiation. MLTC-sensitized T cells secreted large amounts of the type 1 cytokine interferon-gamma, as well as interleukin (IL)-2. However, they also secreted a variety of other cytokines, including the type 2-subtype cytokine IL-13 but not the classic type 2 cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10. Monoclonal populations of CML-specific CD4 cells could be derived from these lines in limited numbers but showed markedly enhanced reactivity. This suggests that CML-specific T cells are relatively rare in these autologous MTLC-derived sensitized populations, but that their isolation and propagation would yield much more potent antitumor effector cells for use in adoptive immunotherapy without the need for bone marrow transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Section for Transplantation Immunology, Second Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tübingen Medical School, Germany. ludmila.mueller@uni-tuebingen.de
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Provenzani
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pawelec
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D002455:Cell Division; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000276:immunology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines