Thymoglobulin, interferon-γ and interleukin-2 efficiently expand cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells in clinical-grade cultures

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Bonanno, G, Iudicone, P, Mariotti, A, Procoli, A, Pandolfi, A, Fioravanti, D, Corallo, M, Perillo, A, Scambia, G, Pierelli, L and Rutella, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1970-7375, 2010. Thymoglobulin, interferon-γ and interleukin-2 efficiently expand cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells in clinical-grade cultures. Journal of Translational Medicine, 8 (1), p. 129. ISSN 1479-5876

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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5876-8-129

Abstract

Background:
Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are typically differentiated in vitro with interferon (IFN)-γ and αCD3 monoclonal antibodies (mAb), followed by the repeated provision of interleukin (IL)-2. It is presently unknown whether thymoglobulin (TG), a preparation of polyclonal rabbit γ immunoglobulins directed against human thymocytes, can improve the generation efficiency of CIK cells compared with αCD3 mAb in a clinical-grade culture protocol.
Methods:
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 10 healthy donors and 4 patients with solid cancer were primed with IFN-γ on day 0 and low (50 ng/ml), intermediate (250 ng/ml) and high (500 ng/ml) concentrations of either αCD3 mAb or TG on day 1, and were fed with IL-2 every 3 days for 21 days. Aliquots of cells were harvested weekly to monitor the expression of representative members of the killer-like immunoglobulin receptor (KIR), NK inhibitory receptor, NK activating receptor and NK triggering receptor families. We also quantified the frequency of bona fide regulatory T cells (Treg), a T-cell subset implicated in the down-regulation of anti-tumor immunity, and tested the in vitro cytotoxic activity of CIK cells against NK-sensitive, chronic myeloid leukaemia K562 cells.
Results:
CIK cells expanded more vigorously in cultures supplemented with intermediate and high concentrations of TG compared with 50 ng/ml αCD3 mAb. TG-driven CIK cells expressed a constellation of NK activating/inhibitory receptors, such as CD158a and CD158b, NKp46, NKG2D and NKG2A/CD94, released high quantities of IL-12p40 and efficiently lysed K562 target cells. Of interest, the frequency of Treg cells was lower at any time-point compared with PBMC cultures nurtured with αCD3 mAb. Cancer patient-derived CIK cells were also expanded after priming with TG, but they expressed lower levels of the NKp46 triggering receptor and NKG2D activating receptor, thus manifesting a reduced ability to lyse K562 cells.
Conclusions:
TG fosters the generation of functional CIK cells with no concomitant expansion of tumor-suppressive Treg cells. The culture conditions described herein should be applicable to cancer-bearing individuals, although the differentiation of fully functional CIK cells may be hindered in patients with advanced malignancies.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Translational Medicine
Creators:	Bonanno, G., Iudicone, P., Mariotti, A., Procoli, A., Pandolfi, A., Fioravanti, D., Corallo, M., Perillo, A., Scambia, G., Pierelli, L. and Rutella, S.
Publisher:	BioMed Central
Date:	7 December 2010
Volume:	8
Number:	1
ISSN:	1479-5876
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1186/1479-5876-8-129 DOI 1479-5876-8-129 Publisher Item Identifier
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	13 Sep 2016 11:32
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2017 14:05
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28498