title: Immune responses of dendritic cells combined with tumor-derived autophagosome vaccine on hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To induce and collect tumor-derived autophagosomes (DRibbles) from tumor cells as an antitumor vaccine by inhibiting the functions of proteasomes and lysosomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dendritic cells (DCs) generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients were cocultured with DRibbles, and then surface molecules of DCs, as well as surface molecules on DCs, were determined by flow cytometry. Meanwhile, immune responses of the DCs-DRibbles were examined by mixed lymphocyte reactions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DRibbles significantly induced the expression of CD80, CD83, CD86 and HLA-DR on DCs. The enzyme-linked immunosorbnent assay (ELISA) showed that IFN-γ levels after vaccination increased than before in most patients, but CD8+ proportion of PBMC increased only in nine patients. Higher levels of IFN-γ were detected in the CD8+ cells than CD4+ T cells. These results suggested that DCs-DRibbles vaccine could induce antigen-specific cellular immune response on HCC and could prime strong CD8+ T cell responses, supporting it as a tumor vaccine candidate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate that HCC/DRibbles-pulsed DCs immunotherapy might be deployed as an effective antitumor vaccine for HCC immunotherapy in clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Yongxiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Chunying
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Junmao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Yufeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China ; 2 Department of Hepatic Internal Medicine, Xuzhou Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Xuzhou 221004, China ; 3 Department of Immunotherapy, 4 Department of Interventional Ultrasound, the Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Autophagy; antitumor immunity; dendritic cells (DCs); hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)