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Biomedical subjects

M T Lotze

Publications and source records attributed to M T Lotze.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Interleukin-12 gene therapy prevents establishment of SCC VII squamous cell carcinomas, inhibits tumor growth, and elicits long-term antitumor immunity in syngeneic C3H mice.

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is an immunostimulatory agent with very promising antitumor activity. Using a retroviral expression vector, the authors have successfully transduced the genes encoding the two subunits of murine IL-12 to the squamous cell carcinoma cell line, SCC VII. Once IL-12 gene transcription and protein production were successfully verified, IL-12 expression was found to inhibit the establishment of SCC VII tumors in syngeneic C3H/HeJ mice inoculated with 1 x 10(6) SCC VII/IL-12 viable tumor cells. Mice immunized in this manner and rechallenged with parent SCC VII were capable of rejecting tumor up to 40% of the time. Treatment of established SCC VII tumors with irradiated IL-12-producing tumors cells led to significant tumor regression in a high percentage of animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Apoptosis induced in T cells by human neuroblastoma cells: role of Fas ligand.

The CD95/CD95L (Fas/Fas ligand) receptor/ligand system plays an important role in regulation of cell survival and induction of a programmed cell death. It is also involved in regulation of effector phase of T and NK cell cytotoxicity, establishment of immune privilege sites, and tumor escape from immune recognition. In this study, we assessed expression of CD95L in tumors obtained from patients with neuroblastoma (NB) and in established NB cell lines. We measured the presence of intratumoral T cell infiltrates and T cell survival in tumor tissue samples. High levels of apoptosis were observed in tumor-associated lymphocytes as well as in Jurkat T cells cocultured with NB cells in vitro. T cell death was reduced after treatment of NB cells (in vitro) with antibody to FAS ligand (FasL). Overall, our data suggest that NB-induced apoptosis of Fas-sensitive Jurkat T cells is mediated by functional FasL expressed on NB and Fas/FasL interaction may be responsible for the elimination of T cells in the NB microenvironment.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed1998

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) knockout mice. Implications for lymphopoiesis and organ-specific immunity.

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) is produced by both immune and non-immune cells including stromal cell lines, B-cells, monocytes/macrophages, follicular dendritic cells, keratinocytes, and gut epithelial cells. The development of IL-7 knockout mice aided to elucidate the role of this multifaceted cytokine in lymphopoiesis. Additionally, IL-7 gene-deleted mice may represent an excellent model in order to define the functional role of locally secreted IL-7 in organ-specific immunity and in anti-microbial responses as well. For instance, analysis of IL-7 gene-deleted mice revealed reduced numbers of total T-lymphocytes with preservation of the CD4/CD8 ratio and increased ratio of alpha beta + T-cells compared to gamma delta + T-cells. Transition of pro-T-cells to pre-T-cells was impaired. Cell marker analysis of thymocytes in IL-7 -/- mice suggested that IL-7 may induce expression of as yet unidentified cytokine receptors, and that IL-7 may also be critically involved in T-cell differentiation. However, there are clear differences in the requirements of alpha beta or gamma delta T-cells for IL-7. In general, IL-7 appears to serve as the major growth and differentiation factor for gamma delta T-cells. IL-7 -/- mice are characterized by a block of maturation of V gamma 3low, CD24+ T-cells to V gamma 3high, CD24low T-cells. Thus, IL-7 does not only represent a 'maintenance factor', but rather a cytokine required for successful thymic and extrathymic development and maturation of gamma delta T-cells. gamma delta + intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (iIEL) are absent in IL-7 -/- animals. In contrast, alpha beta + iIEL can be detected in IL-7 gene-deleted animals, but not in gamma c, or in JAK-3 deficient mice suggesting that alternative cytokines may be involved in development of iIEL alpha beta + T-cells, but not necessarily for gamma delta T-cells. To this end, IL-7 has predominantly been studied in the context of B- and T-cell development. With the availability of IL-7 gene-deleted mice, the paracrine effects of IL-7, which may be secreted in vivo by non-immune cells including keratinocytes or gut epithelial cells, can now be critically examined.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Active specific T-cell-based immunotherapy for cancer: nucleic acids, peptides, whole native proteins, recombinant viruses, with dendritic cell adjuvants or whole tumor cell-based vaccines. Principles and future prospects.

Whereas tumor cells are poor immunogens, recombinant tumor cells or dendritic cells as well as engineered viruses have been demonstrated to elicit specific antitumor immune responses leading to tumor growth suppression and long-lasting immunity in mouse tumor models. Single cytotoxic T lymphocyte-defined epitope-based strategies have proved useful for immunization in tumor-bearing mice. This strategy is under investigation in human melanoma, along with adjuvants such as cytokines or dendritic cells. Flt3L is an in vivo dendritic-cell growth factor that offers new prospects in the field of active specific immunotherapy. These immunotherapeutic approaches are being tested in clinical trials, and may open up novel avenues for disease-free patients with poor prognostic factors.

Adoptive Transfer↗
PubMed1997

FLT3 ligand induces the generation of functionally active dendritic cells in mice.

FLT3 ligand (FL) is a recently described hematopoietic growth factor that stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic progenitors. We have investigated the effect of FL on murine hematopoiesis and dendritic cell (DC) generation and accumulation in lymphoid tissues and liver in vivo and in vitro evaluating the morphologic, phenotypic, and functional characteristics of these DC. We have observed extramedullary hematopoiesis in the mouse spleen with all lineages of hematopoietic cells represented after the administration of FL. Injection of FL results in a time-dependent and reversible accumulation of DC in the spleen, bone marrow, lymph nodes, and liver. Both flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry revealed a significant accumulation of DC in these tissues. Results of mixed leukocyte reaction suggested that these cells, isolated from murine bone marrow or spleen, were active as antigen presenting cells. Furthermore, cultivation of splenic and marrow cells with GM-CSF and IL-4 gave rise to large numbers of functionally active mature DC. Thus, the results of this study suggest that FL is a promising growth factor that stimulates the generation of large number of DC and may be a useful cytokine for the immunotherapy of cancer.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Genetically modified bone marrow-derived dendritic cells expressing tumor-associated viral or "self" antigens induce antitumor immunity in vivo.

The clinical application of synthetic tumor peptide-based vaccines is currently limited to patients with specified major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I alleles. Such logistic limitations may be overcome using tumor gene-based approaches. Here we describe the effective generation of dendritic cells (DC) expressing tumor peptide-MHC complexes as a result of particle-mediated transfer of genes encoding tumor-associated antigens (TAA). Bone marrow-derived DC were transfected with plasmid DNA encoding the tumor-associated viral antigen E7 derived from human papilloma virus (HPV) 16. When applied as a vaccine, these genetically modified DC induced antigen-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in vivo and promoted the rejection of a subsequent, normally lethal challenge with an HPV 16-transformed tumor cell line. Of greatest interest, immunization of mice with syngeneic DC genetically modified to enhance their presentation of a constitutive "self" epitope derived from the tumor-suppressor gene product p53 caused a significant reduction in the in vivo growth of a chemically induced p53-positive sarcoma. These results suggest that cancer vaccines consisting of DC genetically modified to express TAA of viral or "self" origin effectively induce antitumor immunity in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells serve as potent adjuvants for peptide-based antitumor vaccines.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are considered the most effective antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for primary immune responses. Since presentation of antigens to the immune system by appropriate professional APCs is critical to elicit a strong immune reaction and DCs seem to be quantitatively and functionally defective in the tumor host, DCs hold great promise to improve cancer vaccines. Even though they are found in lymphoid organs, skin and mucosa, the difficulty of generating large numbers of DCs has been a major limitation for their use in vaccine studies. A simple method for obtaining DCs from mouse bone marrow cells cultured in the presence of GM-CSF + interleukin 4 is now available. In four different tumor models, mice injected with DCs grown in GM-CSF plus interleukin 4 and prepulsed with a cytotoxic T lymphocyte-recognized tumor peptide epitope developed a specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response and were protected against a subsequent tumor challenge with tumor cells expressing the relevant tumor antigen. Moreover, treatment of day 5-14 tumors with peptide-pulsed DCs resulted in sustained tumor regression in five different tumor models. These results suggest that presentation of tumor antigens to the immune system by professional APCs is a promising method to circumvent tumor-mediated immunosuppression and is the basis for ongoing clinical trials of cancer immunotherapy with tumor peptide-pulsed DCs.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Gene-based strategies for the immunotherapy of cancer.

T lymphocytes play a crucial role in the host's immune response to cancer. Although there is ample evidence for the presence of tumor-associated antigens on a variety of tumors, they are seemingly unable to elicit an adequate antitumor immune response. Modern cancer immunotherapies are therefore designed to induce or enhance T cell reactivity against tumor antigens. Vaccines consisting of tumor cells transduced with cytokine genes in order to enhance their immunogenicity have been intensely investigated in the past decade and are currently being tested in clinical trials. With the development of novel gene transfer technologies it has now become possible to transfer cytokine genes directly into tumors in vivo. The identification of genes encoding tumor-associated antigens and their peptide products which are recognized by cytotoxic T lymphocytes in the context of major histocompatibility complex class I molecules has allowed development of DNA-based vaccines against defined tumor antigens. Recombinant viral vectors expressing model tumor antigens have shown promising results in experimental models. This has led to clinical trials with replication-defective adenoviruses encoding melanoma-associated antigens for the treatment of patients with melanoma. An attractive alternative concept is the use of plasmid DNA, which can elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses following injection into muscle or skin. New insights into the molecular biology of antigen processing and presentation have revealed the importance of dendritic cells for the induction of primary antigen-specific T cell responses. Considerable clinical interest has arisen to employ dendritic cells as a vehicle to induce tumor antigen-specific immunity. Advances in culture techniques have allowed the generation of large numbers of immunostimulatory dendritic cells in vitro from precursor populations derived from blood or bone marrow. Experimental immunotherapies which now transfer genes encoding tumor-associated antigens or cytokines directly into professional antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells are under evaluation in pre-clinical studies at many centers. Gene therapy strategies, such as in vivo cytokine gene transfer directly into tumors as well as the introduction of genes encoding tumor-associated antigens into antigen-presenting cells hold considerable promise for the treatment of patients with cancer.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Interferon-alpha gene therapy for cancer: retroviral transduction of fibroblasts and particle-mediated transfection of tumor cells are both effective strategies for gene delivery in murine tumor models.

Stable transfection of tumor cells with IFN-alpha genes has been shown to result in abrogation of tumor establishment and induction of antitumor immunity. However, strategies suitable for the clinical application of IFN-alpha gene therapy for cancer have not been reported. In this study, we investigated two gene delivery systems capable of mediating the local paracrine production of high levels of biologically active IFN-alpha in murine tumor models: retroviral transduction of fibroblasts and particle-mediated transfection of tumor cells. In spite of the antiproliferative effects of IFN-alpha, it was possible to obtain stable retroviral producer cell lines and transduce a variety of murine tumor cells including syngeneic fibroblasts to stably secrete 2000-5000 U (40-100 ng) murine IFN-alpha/10(6) cells/24 h. IFN-alpha transduction of tumor cells abrogated tumorigenicity in establishment models and induced antitumor immunity in several murine tumor model systems. Importantly, IFN-alpha gene delivery using retrovirally transduced syngeneic fibroblasts was capable of suppressing the establishment of the poorly immunogenic TS/A mouse mammary adenocarcinoma and induced antitumor immunity. Particle mediated transient transfection of tumor cells using the gene gun led to the production of up to 20,000 U IFN-alpha/10(6) cells during the first 24 h and proved to be equally effective in suppressing establishment of TS/A adenocarcinoma and inducing antitumor immunity. These results suggest that retroviral transduction of autologous fibroblasts can serve as an effective gene delivery method for IFN-alpha gene therapy of cancer. Particle-mediated transfection of freshly isolated tumor cells may represent a clinically attractive alternative approach for nonviral gene delivery. Both strategies circumvent the difficulties in routinely establishing primary tumor cell lines from the vast majority of human cancers.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) in colorectal cancer: IL-7 is produced by tissues from colorectal cancer and promotes preferential expansion of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes.

Despite increasing survival rates for patients with colorectal cancer, additional treatment options are required, including active or passive immunotherapy for patients with metastatic disease. Freshly harvested colorectal cancer specimens and in vitro cultured colorectal cancer cell lines were examined for IL-7 protein secretion in order to examine the potential role of this cytokine in the interaction between tumour cells and the host immune system. Freshly harvested colorectal cancer specimens (21/21), or normal adjacent mucosa (3/3), as well as long-term established colorectal cancer cell lines (3/4) exhibited IL-7 mRNA expression as detected by RT-PCR and confirmed by Southern Blot analysis. Freshly harvested colorectal cancer tissue (16/18), or long-term established colorectal cancer cell lines (2/4) secreted in vitro IL-7 as detected by ELISA. In contrast, breast, pancreatic, or lung cancer cell lines, as well as several haematopoietic cancer cells lines, tested negative for IL-7 mRNA and protein. The authors tested different cytokines (IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-7, or a combination of IL-1 beta/IL-7) in vitro for the ability to expand tumour-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TIL) from individual patients (n = 9) with colorectal cancer. TIL populations were tested at day 14 after in vitro propagation for phenotypic analysis by FACS and for reactivity directed against NK and LAK sensitive target cells and autologous cancer cells as measured by cytotoxicity and cytokine release. TIL obtained from colorectal cancer lesions can be efficiently expanded in the presence of IL-7, some(3/9) of which appear to exhibit autologous tumour recognition as measured by cytolytic effector functions and by detection of IFN gamma and TNF alpha release. Detection of IL-7 mRNA expression in colorectal cancer, in normal mucosa adjacent to tumour, as well as the ability of colorectal cancer tissue to secrete IL-7, raises new questions about the biology of the host/tumour interactions in colorectal cancer.

Blotting, Southern↗