Selective ex vivo expansion of cytomegalovirus-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes using dendritic cells pulsed with a human leucocyte antigen A*0201-restricted peptide
Am. Vannucchi et al., Selective ex vivo expansion of cytomegalovirus-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes using dendritic cells pulsed with a human leucocyte antigen A*0201-restricted peptide, BR J HAEM, 113(2), 2001, pp. 479-482
Adoptive transfer of ex vivo-generated cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific T lym
phocytes may be effective in preventing CMV disease in allogeneic haematopo
ietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. We developed a procedure
for expansion of CMV-specific T lymphocytes based on the antigen-presentin
g function of donor dendritic cells (DCs), pulsed with a human leucocyte an
tigen A*0201-restricted pp65 nonamer peptide. CMV-specific T lymphocytes we
re identified following induction of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion
prompted by peptide exposure. Both CD8(+) and CD4(+) CMV-specific T lympho
cytes were selectively produced in these cultures and showed CMV-restricted
cytotoxicity. The simultaneous and selective expansion of CD4(+) and CD8() CMV-specific lymphocytes might be instrumental for more efficient in vivo
function of infused CMV-specific lymphocytes.