In vitro inducing effect of dendritic cells cotransfected with survivin and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor on cytotoxic T cell to kill leukemic cells.

BACKGROUND: Survivin is a rather specific gene in tumor tissue. We transfected dendritic cells (DCs) with recombinant adenovirus (Ad) containing survivin gene and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene and tested the inducing effect of the transfected DCs on cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) to kill leukemic cells. METHODS: After derived from the peripheral, DCs was assayed by mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR) tests. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release test was used to evaluate cytotoxicity of CTL. RESULTS: Expression of survivin in transfected DCs was confirmed by Western blotting analysis. GM-CSF expression was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In MLR assay, DCs coinfected with Ad-survivin and Ad-GM-CSF induced higher allogeneic lymphocyte reaction than control DCs at ratios of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50 and 1:100. DCs coinfected with Ad-survivin and Ad-GM-CSF had much higher activity of CTL to HL-60 cells than DCs infected with Ad-survivin only, Ad-GM-CSF only, or control DCs. Levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) in lymphocyte supernatants containing DCs coinfected with Ad-survivin and Ad-GM-CSF were significantly higher than those in the control group. CONCLUSION: DCs coinfected with Ad-survivin and Ad-GM-CSF induce much higher anti-leukemic response in vitro than those infected with either factor. Therefore, adenovirus vectors containing survivin and GM-CSF genes may be promising vaccine candidates for leukemia therapy.

[Induction of anti-lymphoma cytotoxic T cell effect by dendritic cells transfected with recombinant adenovirus vectors carrying survivin gene].

This study was purposed to investigate the immunological effects of modified dendritic cells (DCs) in inducing cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) effect against lymphoma cells. The DCs were derived from human peripheral blood and transfected with recombined adenovirus vector carrying survivin gene, Western blot was used to detect the expression of survivin, the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release test was used to determine the cytotoxicity of CTLs, the mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) was used to measure the ability to proleferate allo-lymphocyte by DCs, ELISA was used to assay IL-12 level in supernatant. The results showed that the expression of survivin in transfected dentritic cells was confirmed by Western blot analysis. In MLR assay, DCs transfected with Ad-survivin could induce higher allogeneic lymphocytes reaction at the ratios of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50 and 1:100. DCs transfected with Ad-survivin had much higher activity of CTL to CA46 cells than control DCs. The levels of IL-12 of supernatants containing DCs transfected with Ad-survivin were significantly higher than that in the control group. It is concluded that DCs transfected with Ad-survivin can induce CTL response in vitro against lymphoma cells.

[Construction of recombinant adenovirus vector containing human survivin gene and its expression in dendritic cells].

The study was aimed to construct the recombinant adenovirus vectors containing human survivin gene, and to investigate their expression in transfected dendritic cells. Full length cDNA encoding survivin was obtained by PCR amplification from plasmid pcDNA3.0-survivin. The PCR product was restricted, and then inserted into pShuttle-CMV. The plasmids of pShuttle-CMV-survivin were linearized with PmeI, and the fragment containing survivin was ligated with pShuttle-CMV and transfected into E. coli BJ5183. After homologous recombination in bacteria, the extracted plasmid from the positive bacteria were linearized with PacI, transfected into HEK293 cells with liposome Lipofectamine 2000. Then, the harvested adenovirus supernatants were transfected into dendritic cells. The results showed that the recombinant adenovirus-survivin was constructed successfully and its titer was about 2.65 x 10(9) pfu/ml. The expression of survivin in transfected dendritic cells was confirmed by Western blot analysis. It is concluded that the recombinant adenovirus vector containing human survivin was constructed successfully, which may provide preliminary laboratory evidence for anti-leukemia immunotherapy.