METHODS OF INDUCING A T CELL MEDIATED IMMUNE RESPONSE BY ADMINISTERING ANTIGEN PRESENTING B CELLS

摘要

We teach a strategy to obtain large quantities of desired APCs, activated B cells, which are superior in their capacity to present tumor protein antigen in a multiadministration protocol. Human B cells can be obtained from peripheral blood in large numbers. These cells can be activated in vitro by coculture with CD40L (CD40-B cells) and an immunosuppressive agent such as cyclosporin A. They can expanded up to 1x10³ to 1x10⁴ fold in 2 weeks or 1x10⁵ to 1x10⁶ fold in 2 months. We demonstrate these cells are most efficient APCs comparable to DCs in stimulating allogeneic CD4⁺ CD45RA⁺, CD4⁺ CD45RO⁺, and CD8⁺ T cells. In contrast to DCs, CD40-B cells are fully functional even in the presence of immunosuppressive cytokines such as IL-10 and TGFbeta.