title: Characterization of human γδ T lymphocytes infiltrating primary malignant melanomas.
abstract: T lymphocytes are often induced naturally in melanoma patients and infiltrate tumors. Given that γδ T cells mediate antigen-specific killing of tumor cells, we studied the representation and the in vitro cytokine production and cytotoxic activity of tumor infiltrating γδ T cells from 74 patients with primary melanoma. We found that γδ T cells represent the major lymphocyte population infiltrating melanoma, and both Vδ1(+) and Vδ2(+) cells are involved. The majority of melanoma-infiltrating γδ cells showed effector memory and terminally-differentiated phenotypes and, accordingly, polyclonal γδ T cell lines obtained from tumor-infiltrating immune cells produced IFN-γ and TNF-α and were capable of killing melanoma cell lines in vitro. The cytotoxic capability of Vδ2 cell lines was further improved by pre-treatment of tumor target cells with zoledronate. Moreover, higher rate of γδ T cells isolation and percentages of Vδ2 cells correlate with early stage of development of melanoma and absence of metastasis. Altogether, our results suggest that a natural immune response mediated by γδ T lymphocytes may contribute to the immunosurveillance of melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Discipline Chirurgiche ed Oncologiche, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cordova
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Toia
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: La Mendola
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Orlando
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meraviglia
authors.forename: Gaetana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Todaro
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cicero
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zichichi
authors.forename: Paolo Li
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Donni
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Caccamo
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stassi
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dieli
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moschella
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010641:Phenotype; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta