CYTOKINE GENE TRANSDUCTION IN TUMOR-CELLS - INTERLEUKIN (IL)-2 OR IL-4 GENE-TRANSFER IN HUMAN-MELANOMA CELLS

Cytokine gene transfer into mouse tumor cells has been shown to stimul ate a strong immune response resulting in the rejection of the transdu ced tumor when injected in vivo. Therefore, retroviral vectors contain ing the human interleukin (IL)-2 or IL-4 gene have been constructed to transduce human melanoma cells to explore whether their immunogenicit y can be increased both in vitro and in vivo. Our preliminary results indicate that retroviral vectors can efficiently transduce the IL-2 or IL-4 gene into melanoma clones, inducing production of either cytokin e in the range of 0.5-2 ng/ml/10(5) cells in 48-72 h. No modifications of the growth rate, morphology and antigenicity of the transduced tum or cells were found.