title: Role of cross-talk between IFN-alpha-induced monocyte-derived dendritic cells and NK cells in priming CD8+ T cell responses against human tumor antigens.
abstract: In the present study we evaluated the role of IFN-alpha in the generation of dendritic cells (IFN-DCs) with priming activity on CD8(+) T lymphocytes directed against human tumor Ags. A 3-day treatment of monocytes, obtained as adherent PBMCs from HLA-A*0201(+) healthy donors, with IFN-alpha and GM-CSF led to the differentiation of DCs displaying a semimature phenotype, but promptly inducing CD8(+) T cell responses after one in vitro sensitization with peptides derived from melanoma (gp100(209-217) and MART-1/Melan-A(27-35)) and adenocarcinoma (CEA(605-613)) Ags. However, these features were lost when IFN-DCs were generated from immunosorted CD14(+) monocytes. The ability of adherent PBMCs to differentiate into IFN-DCs expressing higher levels of costimulatory molecules and exerting efficient T cell priming capacity was associated with the presence of contaminating NK cells, which underwent phenotypic and functional activation upon IFN-alpha treatment. NK cell boost appeared to be mediated by both direct and indirect (i.e., mediated by IFN-DCs) mechanisms. Experiments performed to prove the role of contaminating NK cells in DC differentiation showed that IFN-DCs generated in the absence of NK were phenotypically less mature and could not efficiently prime antitumor CD8(+) lymphocytes. Reciprocally, IFN-DCs raised from immunosorted CD14(+) monocytes regained their T cell priming activity when NK cells were added to the culture before IFN-alpha and GM-CSF treatment. Together, our data suggest that the ability of IFN-DCs to efficiently prime anti-tumor CD8(+) T lymphocytes relied mostly on the positive cross-talk occurring between DCs and NK cells upon stimulation with IFN-alpha.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Immunotherapy of Human Tumors, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tosi
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Valenti
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cova
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sovena
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pilla
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arienti
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Belardelli
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parmiani
authors.forename: Licia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rivoltini
mesh_terms: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000276:immunology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D009000:Monocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D016898:Interferon-alpha