BCR/ABL-specific CD8+ T cells can be detected from CML patients, but are only expanded from healthy donors.
The BCR/ABL p210 fusion protein has long been considered an ideal target antigen for the development of immunotherapeutic strategies in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) due to its central role in malignant transformation and to its unique novel amino acid sequence solely expressed in leukaemia cells. However, the feasibility to expand BCR-ABL-specific T cells remains still controversial. Using BCR/ABL peptide/MHC tetramers, significantly higher frequencies of tetramer positive cells were detected in the peripheral blood of HLA-A*0301 (mean 0.38%) and HLA-B*0801 (mean 0.28%) CML patients than in healthy donors (P = 0.0025 and 0.0026, respectively). However, following stimulation with autologous peptide-pulsed DCs, BCR/ABL-specific T cells were only expanded from some healthy donors, suggesting that CML patients may have a specific immune deficit with respect to the BCR/ABL antigen.
The Anthony Nolan Research Institute, The Royal Free Hospital, University College of London, Medical School, Hampstead, London NW3 2QG, UK.
Sylvie
S
Rusakiewicz
Alejandro
A
Madrigal
Paul
P
Travers
Anthony I
AI
Dodi
D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D019281:Dimerization; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D015791:HLA-A3 Antigen; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D015795:HLA-B8 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009000:Monocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
D015234:HLA-A Antigens; C442141:HLA-A*03:01 antigen; D015791:HLA-A3 Antigen; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; C509422:HLA-B*08:01 antigen; D015795:HLA-B8 Antigen; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl