EXPRESSION OF CD80 ENHANCES IMMUNOGENICITY OF CERVICAL-CARCINOMA CELLS IN-VITRO

Although cervical carcinoma cells may express the human papillomavirus oncoproteins E6 and E7, they fail to induce an effective specific cyt otoxic T lymphocyte response. This failure may be due to a lack of exp ression of costimulatory molecules, such as CD80 (B7.1). To augment th e immunogenicity of cervical carcinoma cells, we transfected human pap illomavirus (HPV)-transformed cell lines, CaSki and HeLa, with the CD8 0 expression vector pBJ. Alloantigens on the tumor cells were used for the stimulation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). Cocultivation of PBLs and tumor cells resulted in proliferation of CD4(+) and CD8() T lymphocyte subsets. CD80-expressing tumor cells induced proliferat ion of allogeneic PBLs two- to sixfold compared to control cell lines. Cocultivation of allogeneic PBLs with CD80-positive tumor cells for 3 weeks gave rise to cytotoxic T cells capable of lysing untransfected parental tumor cell lines. Our results demonstrate an immunostimulator y effect of CD80 expression on cervical cancer cells, which provides a basis for the development of a therapeutic tumor vaccine. (C) 1996 Ac ademic Press, Inc.