Artificial antigen-presenting cells expressing AFP(158-166) peptide and interleukin-15 activate AFP-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes

作者：Sun, Longhao; Guo, Hao; Jiang, Ruoyu; Lu, Li; Liu, Tong; Zhang, Zhixiang; He, Xianghui^*

来源：Oncotarget, 2016, 7(14): 17579-17590.

DOI：10.18632/oncotarget.8198

• artificial antigen-presenting cells
• alpha-fetoprotein
• interleukin-15
• cytotoxic T lymphocytes
• adoptive immunotherapy
• Immunology and Microbiology Section
• Immune response
• Immunity

Professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are potent generators of tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) for adoptive immunotherapy; however, generation of APCs is cumbersome, expensive, and subject to the tumor microenvironment. Artificial APCs (aAPCs) have been developed as a cost-effective alternative to APCs. We developed a cellular aAPC that efficiently generated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-specific CTLs. We genetically modified the human B cell lymphoma cell line BJAB with a lentiviral vector to establish an aAPC called BA15. The expression of AFP(158-166)-HLA-A*02:01 complex, CD80, CD86, and interleukin (IL)-15 in BA15 cells was assessed. The efficiency of BA15 at generating AFP-specific CTLs and the specific cytotoxicity of CTLs against AFP+ cells were also determined. BA15 cells expressed high levels of AFP(158-166) peptide, HLA-A2, CD80, CD86, and IL-15. BA15 cells also exhibited higher efficiency in generating AFP-specific CTLs than did dendritic cells. These CTLs had greater cytotoxicity against AFP+ hepatocellular carcinoma cells than did CTLs obtained from dendritic cells in vitro and in vivo. Our novel aAPC system could provide a robust platform for the generation of functional AFP-specific CTLs for adoptive immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.

• 出版日期2016-4-5
• 单位天津医科大学