HIGH EXPRESSION OF ADHESION MOLECULES ACTIVATION MARKERS WITH LITTLE INTERLEUKIN-2, INTERFERON-GAMMA, AND TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR BETA-GENE ACTIVATION IN FRESH TUMOR-INFILTRATING LYMPHOCYTES FROM LUNG ADENOCARCINOMA

Little is known about the activation level of tumor-infiltrating lymph ocytes (TIL) in human lung adenocarcinoma. We investigated the activat ion of fresh TIL at cellular and molecular levels and compared it with autologous and healthy normal peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) for baseline level. TIL were extracted from 12 primary lung adenocarcinoma s by mechanical disruption without enzyme use and isolated by double-d ensity Ficoll gradients. Flow-cytometry analysis of TIL subset distrib ution revealed that the majority was composed of T lymphocytes. and do uble labeling with alpha-CD3 and adhesion/activation markers revealed T cell subsets expressing CD49a. CD49b, CD54, and CD15, each of which was almost absent in autologous T peripheral blood lymphacytes (T-PBL) . Moreover. the proportions of T-TIL expressing CD58, CD65. or CD25 we re increased severalfold compared to T-PBL. Lymphokine gene activation in TIL was assessed by mRNA reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain re action (RT-PCR) and primers for interleukin(IL)-2.