TITLE:
HLA-Identical Dendritic-Leukemic Cell Hybrids Generate Specific CTLs in Vitro
AUTHORS:
Rinat Eshel, Meirav Shpringer, Nadia Voskobinik, Akiva Vexler, Rami Ben-Yosef, Inna Fabian, Boris Tartakovsky, Elizabeth Naparstek
KEYWORDS:
Dendritic Cells, Cytotoxicity, Cellular Therapy
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.1 No.3,
September
26,
2010
ABSTRACT: hile being instrumental in the treatment of leukemic relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the impact of donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) and its effectiveness remain debatable. Consequently it is widely accepted that more efforts are needed in order to make DLI more effective. This communication thus deals with the generation of specific CTLs in the clinical setting of HLA matched hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, to be used as an improved DLI treatment for post-transplantation relapsed leukemias. We assessed the potential of fused dendritic cells from donor origin, with leukemic cells from the HLA matched recipient for the generation of donor anti-tumor CTLs. Leukemic cells and donor dendritic cells were fused using polyethylene glycol (PEG). The hybrids were analyzed for double phenotype of both DC and tumor, and used for the education and generation of cytotoxic donor lymphocytes. Results demonstrate that efficient and specific CTLs can be generated and used in vitro for the elimination of the recipient tumor cells. These results form the basis for the establishment of a novel methodology aimed at generating active or passive anti-leukemic vaccine in relapsed patients.