title: Induction of CD4+ murine natural killer T-like cells by immunization with syngeneic thymoma expressing embryonic alpha-fetoprotein.
abstract: In embryo, before the establishment of acquired immunity, a variety of embryonic antigens like alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) are produced and secreted in the sera, which rapidly disappear after the birth. Such embryonic antigens sometimes reappear from various tumor cells and decrease in the case of remission, indicating embryonic antigens may alert immune system to control tumors. In the present study, to examine the evoked immune responses against the tumors expressing embryonic antigen, we administered AFP-gene-transfected EL4 cells into syngeneic C57BL/6 mice and established a killer line against the tumor cells. To our surprise, the killer line was CD4+ NK1.1+, natural killer T (NKT)-like cells and eliminated not only AFP-expressing EL4 but YAC-1 cells. Moreover, the established line uniformly expressed Vbeta11 and secreted IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, and IFN-gamma. In vivo inoculation of the line markedly reduced the tumor growth in SCID mice, suggesting novelty of the NKT-like line for tumor surveillance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Nippon Medical School, Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8602, Japan.
authors.forename: Youngsoon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yohko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Hirotaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeshita
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: Hidemi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007114:Immunization; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016513:Mice, SCID; D010641:Phenotype; D011247:Pregnancy; D013945:Thymoma / Q000276:immunology*; D014162:Transfection; D014185:Transplantation, Isogeneic; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins