title: Phenotypic characterization and anti-tumor effects of cytokine-induced killer cells derived from cord blood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell therapy represents a feasible immunotherapeutic option for treating malignancies. However, the number of anti-tumor lymphocytes cannot be easily obtained from the cancer patients with poor immunity status, and older patients cannot tolerate repeated collection of blood. Cord blood-derived CIK (CB-CIK) cells have shown efficacy in treating the patients with cancer in several clinical trials. This study was conducted to evaluate the biological characteristics and anti-tumor function of CB-CIK cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  The immunogenicity, chemokine receptors and proliferation of CB-CIK cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. The CIK cells on day 13 were treated with cisplatin and the anti-apoptosis capacity was analyzed. The function of CB-CIK cells against the human cancer was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with peripheral blood-derived CIK (PB-CIK) cells, CB-CIK cells demonstrated lower immunogenicity and increased proliferation rates. CB-CIK cells also had a higher percentage of main functional fraction CD3(+)CD56(+). The anti-apoptosis ability of CB-CIK cells after treatment with cisplatin was higher than that of PB-CIK cells. Furthermore, CB-CIK cells were effective for secreting interleukin-2 and interferon-γ and a higher percentage of chemokine receptors CCR6 and CCR7. In addition, tumor growth was greatly inhibited by CB-CIK treatment in a nude mouse xenograft model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CB-CIK cells exhibit more efficient anti-tumor activity in in vitro analysis and in the preclinical model and may serve as a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Xianlan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Tengfei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Lingzhu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; School of Life Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Jinyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Dongli
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; School of Life Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Jieyao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Fangxia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Yuming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; Department of Hematology/Oncology, School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; School of Life Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Electronic address: yizhang@zzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D055612:Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D010641:Phenotype; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D007371:Interferon-gamma
keywords: cancer; cord blood; cytokine-induced killer cells; peripheral blood