RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the therapeutic effect of MHSP65-TCL on melanoma and its effect on the activity of the immunocytes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>MHSP65-TCL was prepared by mixing MHSP65 with TCL derived from B16 melanoma cell lysate by repeated freezing and thawing. The MHSP65-TCL vaccine was administered in mice bearing B16 melanoma, and the changes in melanoma growth was observed. To investigate the influence of TCL in MHSP65-TCL on the activity of the immunocytes, we co-cultured TCL and mouse spleen cells in vitro, and analyzed CD69 expression on the cells, cell apoptosis, and levels of IL-10 and IFN-γ in the cell culture supernatant.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The MHSP65-TCL vaccine showed an anti-melanoma effect in the tumor-bearing mice. In the in vitro experiment, TCL in MHSP65-TCL strongly stimulated the activation of mouse spleen cells while causing apoptosis in some of the immunocytes and promoting cellular IL-10 secretion, but not IFN-γ.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>MHSP65-TCL derived from B16 melanoma cells has an anti-melanoma effect mediated by the activation of immunocytes. TCL in MHSP65-TCL also has immunosuppressive effect on immunocytes possibly due to the presence of suppressive components in TCL, and identifying and eliminating these components may potentially improve the anti-tumor actovoty of MSHP65-TCL vaccine.</p>