Markers of effective anti-tumor CTL populations for adoptive cell therapy (165.5)

• Published in: The Journal of immunology (1950) 2012-05, Vol.188 (1_Supplement), p.165-165.5
• Main Authors: Yang, Jianping, He, Shujie, Peng, Lifeng, Rawson, Pisana, Perret, Rachel, Jordan, Bill, Ronchese, Franca
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0022-1767; 1550-6606
• DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.188.Supp.165.5

Adoptive transfer of in vitro activated, tumor-specific CTL is a useful strategy for cancer immunotherapy. We compared in vitro culture conditions for ability to generate tumor-specific CTL that reject tumours in vivo, and for expression of molecular markers associated with effective anti-tumor activity. Specific CTL were obtained in short-term in vitro cultures of naïve CD8+ T cells and bone marrow DC loaded with peptide antigen, and were expanded in IL-2 for 2 days before transfer in vivo. The conditions of DC activation did not appear to affect the recovery, phenotype or effector function of cultured CTL, but had a substantial effect on the CTL’s ability to prevent tumour growth in vivo. Proteomic analysis of the total and surface proteome of different CTL populations was carried out using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Among more than 1,000 identified proteins, several were expressed with different abundance in CTL populations with varying anti-tumour activity. The functional significance of proteins showing the greatest differential expression is currently being examined using a combination of gene silencing and in vivo transfer studies. The identification of markers associated with effective anti-tumor function will provide useful means to understand and predict the functional activity of CTL populations for in vivo transfer.