title: Phenotypic and functional characterization of cytokine-induced killer cells derived from preterm and term infant cord blood.
abstract: Cord blood has gradually become an important source for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in the human, particularly in pediatric patients. Adoptive cellular immunotherapy of patients with hematologic malignancies after umbilical cord blood transplant is crucial. Cytokine‑induced killer (CIK) cells derived from cord blood are a new type of antitumor immune effector cells in tumor prevention and treatment and have increasingly attracted the attention of researchers. On the other hand, it has been suggested that preterm infant cord blood retains an early differentiation phenotype suitable for immunotherapy. Therefore, we determined the phenotypic and functional characterization of CIK cells derived from preterm infant cord blood (PCB-CIK) compared with CIK cells from term infant cord blood (TCB-CIK). Twenty cord blood samples were collected and classified into two groups based on gestational age. Cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs) were isolated, cultured and induced to CIK cells in vitro. We used flow cytometry to detect cell surface markers, FlowJo software to analyze the proliferation profile and intracellular staining to test the secretion of cytokines. Finally, we evaluated the antitumor activity of CIK cells against K562 in vitro. Compared with TCB-CIK, PCB-CIK cells demonstrated faster proliferation and higher expression of activated cell surface markers. The secretion of IL-10 was lower in PCB-CIK cells while the expression of perforin and CD107a had no significant difference between the two cell groups. PCB-CIK cells exhibited a high proliferation rate while the cytotoxic activity had no difference between the PCB-CIK and TCB-CIK cells. Hence preterm infant cord blood may be a potential source for immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chenghan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zanyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xinru
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Newborn Disease Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Health, The Children's Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055612:Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000097:blood*; D020014:K562 Cells; D047929:Term Birth / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D016207:Cytokines