Antigen-driven long term-cultured T cells proliferate in vivo, distribute widely, mediate specific tumor therapy, and persist long-term as functional memory T cells.

MA Cheever, DB Thompson, JP Klarnet… - The Journal of …, 1986 - rupress.org
MA Cheever, DB Thompson, JP Klarnet, PD Greenberg
The Journal of experimental medicine, 1986rupress.org
Mice bearing disseminated syngeneic FBL-3 leukemia were treated with cyclophosphamide
plus long term-cultured T cells immune to FBL-3. The cultured T cells for therapy had been
induced to grow in vitro for 62 d by intermittent stimulation with irradiated FBL-3. At the time
of therapy, such antigen-driven long term-cultured T cells were greatly expanded in number,
proliferated in vitro in response to FBL-3, and were specifically cytotoxic. Following adoptive
transfer, donor T cells persisting in the host were identified and counted using donor and …
Mice bearing disseminated syngeneic FBL-3 leukemia were treated with cyclophosphamide plus long term-cultured T cells immune to FBL-3. The cultured T cells for therapy had been induced to grow in vitro for 62 d by intermittent stimulation with irradiated FBL-3. At the time of therapy, such antigen-driven long term-cultured T cells were greatly expanded in number, proliferated in vitro in response to FBL-3, and were specifically cytotoxic. Following adoptive transfer, donor T cells persisting in the host were identified and counted using donor and host mice congenic for the T cell marker Thy-1. The results show that antigen-driven long term-cultured T cells proliferated rapidly in vivo, distributed widely in host lymphoid organs, and were effective in tumor therapy. Moreover, the already rapid in vivo growth rate of donor T cells could be augmented by administration of exogenous IL-2. When cured mice were examined 120 d after therapy, donor L3T4+ T cells and donor Lyt-2+ T cells could be found in large numbers in host ascites, spleen, and mesenteric and axillary lymph nodes. The persisting donor T cells proliferated in vitro, and became specifically cytotoxic in response to FBL-3, demonstrating that antigen-driven long term-cultured T cells can persist long term in vivo and provide immunologic memory.
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