• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.295-301
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• 2003

Background: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is well-known soluble tumor marker frequently detectable in peripheral blood of carcinoma patients and considered as good target for antigen-specific immunotherapy. In this study, we used a replication-deficient adenovirus containing CEA to study CTL induction in vitro after adenovirus-mediated gene transfer into DC. Methods: DC were obtained from mouse bone marrow and cultured with IL-4 and GM-CSF. For measuring CTL activity, splenocytes were harvested from the mice, which were immunized with DC that had been infected AdV-CEA or pulsed with CEA peptide. Untreated DC was used as a control. Splenocytes were re-stimulated in vitro with DC pulsed with CEA peptide for 7 days and CTL activity with CEA peptide-pulsed EL-4 cells were assessed in a standard $^{51}Cr$-release assay. The frequencies of antigen-specific cytokine-secreting T cell were determined with $mIFN-{\gamma}$ELISPOT. Results: DC infected with recombinant adenovirus expressing CEA induced CEA-specific CTL responses in vivo. Splenocyte induced from mice immunized with AdV-CEA-infected DC increase in the number of $IFN-{\gamma}$ secreting T cells compared with those from mice immunized with CEA peptide-pulsed DC. Conclusion: These results suggested that DC infected with recombinant adenovirus has advantages over other forms of vaccination and could provide an alternative approach vaccination therapies.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.233-239
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• 1991

Phellinus linteus was examined for its anticancer activity using an animal model. Water extract of Phellinus linteus was prepared from artificially cultivated mycelia. Neither toxicity nor abnormal changes of hematological parameters were observed in the rat given orally with high doses of drug extract for 15 days. ICR mice were transplanted with Sarcoma-180 tumor cells intraperitoneally and drug extract was daily given to the mice from 1 day after tumer transplantation for 3 weeks. Administration of drug extract significantly prolonged the survival duration of Sarcoma 180-transplanted mice. For the better understanding of the anticancer activity, we have examined the effect of the drug extract administration on various killer cell functions, such as natural killer(NK) cells, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) and macrophages which have been known to be main effector cells in immune responses against tumors. The results from the 4 hr $^{51}Cr-release$ assay have shown that the drug extract augments mouse NK cell activity but neither CTL nor macrophages. It is possible, then, that the anticancer activity of the Phellinus linteus may be associated with augmentation of NK cell function in the cancerated hosts.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.32 no.3 s.126
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• pp.226-232
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• 2001

To explore the possible cancer therapeutic application of "Bo-yang-hwan-oh-tang" (BH), a herbal medicinal recipe used for improvement of blood stasis, we have examined its direct cytotoxicity against tumor cell, and induction of cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes. Water extract of BH alone did not exhibit direct cytotoxicity to Yac-1 target cells even with high concentrations (10 mg/ml). By exposure for 3 days, BH did not induce any nonspecific cytotoxic activity of mouse spleen cells, either, when assessed in a 4 hr $^{51}Cr-release$ assay. However, when BH was added during CD3 stimulation of non-adherent spleen cells, non-specific CTL activity was markedly promoted in a dose dependent manner. In contrast, BH did not alter activated NK cell activity following IL-2 stimulation. These data suggest that BH does not induce but upregulates non-specific CTL effecter function and that activated NK cell does not respond to BH. For elucidation of the mechanism underlying this function of BH, time kinetic study for IL-2 production using ELISA was undertaken. IL-2 production following CD3 stimulation was significantly augmented and higher level of IL-2 is sustained over 3 days in the culture medium by BH treatment. Moreover, addition of exogenous IL-2 during CD3 stimulation resulted in a similar level of cytotoxicity between control and BH-treated culture. These data indicate that the BH-mediated upregulation of non-specific CTL activity is contributed by augmentation of IL-2 production. Our data imply the possible application of BH for combination therapy of cancer with non-specific activator.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2447-2451
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• 2014

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary etiologic agent of cervical cancer. Consideration of safety and non human leukocyte antigen restriction, protein vaccine has become the most likely form of HPV therapeutic vaccine, although none have so far been reported as effective. Since tumor cells consistently express the two proteins E6 and E7, most therapeutic vaccines target one or both of them. In this study, we fabricated DC vaccines by transducing replication-defective recombinant adenoviruses expressing E6/E7 fusion gene of HPV-16, to investigate the lethal effects of specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) against CaSki cells in vitro. Mouse immature dendritic cells (DC) were generated from bone marrow, and transfected with pAd-E6/E7 to prepare a DC vaccine and to induce specific CTL. The surface expression of CD40, CD68, MHC II and CD11c was assessed by flow cytometry (FCM), and the lethal effects of CTL against CaSki cells were determined by DAPI, FCM and CCK-8 methods. Immature mouse DC was successfully transfected by pAd-E6/E7 in vitro, and the transfecting efficiency was 40%-50%. A DC vaccine was successfully prepared and was used to induce specific CTL. Experimental results showed that the percentage of apoptosis and killing rate of CaSki cells were significantly increased by coculturing with the specific CTL (p <0.05). These results illustrated that a DC vaccine modified by HPV-16 E6/E7 gene can induce apoptosis of CaSki cells by inducing CTL, which may be used as a new strategy for biological treatment of cervical cancer.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.135-137
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• 2009

Mathematical models for describing the Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV) infection can be devised to better understand how the HIV causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS). The HIV models can then be used to find clues to curing AIDS from a control theoretical point of view. Some models take Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes(CTL) response to HIV infection into account, and others consider mutants against the drugs. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no model developed, which describes CTL response and mutant HIV together. Hence we propose a unified model to consider both of these. On the basis of the resulting model, we also present a Model Predictive Control(MPC) scheme to find an optimal treatment strategy. The optimization is performed under the assumption that the Structured Treatment Interruption(STI) policy is employed.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.188-200
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• 2003

Background: Immunization of dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with tumor antigen can activate tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) that are responsible for protection and regression. In this study, we examined whether the uptake of necrotic tumor cells could modulate DC phenotypes and whether the immunization of necrotic tumor cell-loaded DCs could elicit efficient tumor specific immune responses followed by a regression of established tumor burdens. Methods: We prepared necrotic tumor cell-pulsed DCs for the therapeutic vaccination and investigated their phenotypic characteristics, the immune responses induced by these DCs, and therapeutic vaccine efficacy against colon carcinoma in vivo. Several parameters including phagocytosis of tumor cells, surface antigen expression, chemokine receptor expression, IL-12 production, and NK as well as CTL activation were assessed to characterize the immune response. Results: DCs derived from mouse bone marrow efficiently phagocytosed necrotic tumor cells and after the uptake, they produced remarkably increased levels of IL-12. A decreased CCR1 and increased CCR7 expression on DCs was also observed after the tumor uptake, suggesting that antigen uptake could induce DC maturation. Furthermore, co-culturing of DCs with NK cells in vitro enhanced IL-12 production in DCs and IFN-${\gamma}$ production in NK cells, which was significantly dependent on IL-12 production and cell-to-cell contact. Immunization of necrotic tumor cell-loaded DCs induced cytotoxic T lymphocytes as well as NK activation, and protected mice against subsequent tumor challenge. In addition, intratumoral or contra-lateral immunization of these DCs not only inhibited the growth of established tumors, but also eradicated tumors in more than 60% of tumor-bearing mice. Conclusion: Our data indicate that production of IL-12, chemokine receptor expression and NK as well as CTL activation may serve as major parameters in assessing the effect of tumor cell-pulsed DC vaccine. Therefore, DCs loaded with necrotic tumor cells offer a rational strategy to treat tumors and eventually lead to prolonged survival.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.611-616
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• 2014

Objectives: Dendritic cell (DC)-based tumor immunotherapy needs an immunogenic tumor associated antigen (TAA) and an effective approach for its presentation to lymphocytes. In this study we explored whether transduction of DCs with lentiviruses (LVs) expressing the human interleukin-12 gene could stimulate antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) against human lung cancer cells in vitro. Methods: Peripheral blood monocyte-derived DCs were transduced with a lentiviral vector encoding human IL-12 gene (LV-12). The anticipated target of the human IL-12 gene was detected by RT-PCR. The concentration of IL-12 in the culture supernatant of DCs was measured by ELISA.Transduction efficiencies and CD83 phenotypes of DCs were assessed by flow cytometry. DCs were pulsed with tumor antigen of lung cancer cells (DC+Ag) and transduced with LV-12 (DC-LV-12+Ag). Stimulation of T lymphocyte proliferation by DCs and activation of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) stimulated by LV-12 transduced DCs pulsed with tumor antigen against A549 lung cancer cells were assessed with methyl thiazolyltetrazolium (MTT). Results: A recombinant lentivirus expressing the IL-12 gene was successfully constructed. DC transduced with LV-12 produced higher levels of IL-12 and expressed higher levels of CD83 than non-transduced. The DC modified by interleukin -12 gene and pulsed with tumor antigen demonstrated good stimulation of lymphocyte proliferation, induction of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and antitumor effects. Conclusions: Dendritic cells transduced with a lentivirus-mediated interleukin-12 gene have an enhanced ability to kill lung cancer cells through promoting T lymphocyte proliferation and cytotoxicity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.556-561
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• 1995

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 (CTL) 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 TIMI.4 in the presence of the concanavalin A-stimulated rat 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.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.408-413
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• 2012

Almost all melanoma cells express at least one member of the MAGE-A antigen family, making the cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) epitopes with cross-immunizing potential in this family attractive candidates for the broad spectrum of anti-melanoma immunotherapy. In this study, four highly homologous peptides (P264: FLWGPRALA, P264I9: FLWGPRALI, P264V9: FLWGPRALV, and P264H8: FLWGPRAHA) from the MAGE-A antigens were selected by homologous alignment. All four peptides showed high binding affinity and stability to HLA-A$^*02:01$ molecules, and could prime CTL immune responses in human PBMCs and in HLA-A$^*02:01/K^b$ transgenic mice. CTLs elicited by the four epitope peptides could cross-lyse tumor cells expressing the mutual target antigens, except MAGE-A11 which was not tested. However, CTLs induced by P264V9 and P264I9 showed the strongest target cell lysis capabilities, suggesting both peptides may represent the common CTL epitopes shared by the eight MAGE-A antigens, which could induce more potent and broad-spectrum antitumor responses in immunotherapy.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.96-102
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• 2003

Background: Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene-transduced tumor cell vaccines induce very potent systemic anti-tumor immunity in preclinical and clinical models. Our previous phase I clinical trial in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has demonstrated both immune cell infiltration at vaccine sites and T cell-mediated delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to whole tumor cell vaccines. Methods: To investigate the immune responses to autologous genetically- modified tumor cell vaccines, tumor-specific $CD8^+$ T cell lines were generated from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of a RCC patient 1.24 by repeated in vitro stimulation with either B7.1-transduced autologous RCC tumor cells or B7.1-transduced autologous tumor cells treated with interferon gamma ($IFN{\gamma}$), and cloned by limiting dilution. Results: Among several RCC-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), a $CD4^+/CD8^+$ double positive T cell clone (17/A2) appeared to recognize $IFN{\gamma}$-treated autologous RCC restricted by HLA-B39. The 17/A2 also recognized other HLA-B39 positive RCC tumor cells after $IFN{\gamma}$ treatment. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that autologous RCC vaccination successfully generates the tumor-specific CTL 17/A2, and suggest that the presentation and recognition of the tumor antigen by the 17/A2 might be upregulated by $IFN{\gamma}$.