Antitumor responses of adoptively-transferred tumor-specific T-cell cultures in a murine lymphoma model

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish an in vitro culture method of tumor-specific T cells, and determine the efficacy of the cultured tumor-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (GTL) as an agent of anti-tumor immunotherapy against a murine lymphoma, TIMI.4. Tumor-specific T-lymphocytes derived from C57BL/6 mice (thy-1.2) immune to TIMI.4 were activated by in vitro stimulation with the irradiated TIMI.4 cells, and expanded by restimulation with TIML4 in the presence of the concanavalin A-stimulated mt spleen culture supernatant, and splenic antigen-presenting cells. In vitro restimulation enhanced markedly the proportion of CD8^+, a predominant surface marker of CTL, and the cytotoxic activity in the cultured immune T cell population. The resulting TIMI.4-specific T cells were adoptively transferred into nude mice. The tumor cells residing in the host after 7 days of adoptive transfer to B6.PL (thy-1.1) mice were quantified by use of an antibody directed to the thy-1.2 allele. The TIMI.4 cells in the recipient nude mice were decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Anti-tumor activity of the TIMI.4-specific T cells was also demonstrated by a survival test, where the tumor-bearing nu/nu mice which received the activated T-cells survived about 30% longer than the control mice which received the tumor cells alone. These suggest that adoptive transfer of TIMI.4-specific T cells could be a candidate for effective therapy of the murine lymphoma.