Infusion of select leukemia-reactive TCR Vbeta+ T cells provides graft-versus-leukemia responses with minimization of graft-versus-host disease following murine hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

AbstractT-cell receptor (TCR) Vbeta-expression analysis by complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3)-size spectratyping can identify the reactive populations in an immunologic response. This analysis was used in this study to characterize the Vbeta responses of C57BL/6 (B6) CD4+ and CD8+ T cells directed to either alloantigen (against [B6xDBA/2]F1; anti-H2d) or the syngeneic myeloid leukemia MMB3.19. Vbeta families exhibiting reactivity to the leukemia cells were then enriched for and administered in both syngeneic and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) models to assess in vivo graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) potential. In syngeneic transplants, enrichment for pools of selected Vbeta families (Vbeta7, -11, and -13) of T cells or for a single Vbeta family (Vbeta7) of CD4+ T cells conveyed a beneficial GVL response to the recipients. Furthermore, in the haploidentical allogeneic model, both Vbeta6,7-enriched donor B6 T cells and Vbeta7-enriched CD4+ T cells exhibited significant GVL responses with concomitant minimization of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) development compared with equal numbers of unfractionated T cells. These results suggest that CDR3-size spectratype analysis of and subsequent selection from donor T-cell repertoires can be an effective approach to separate GVL and GVHD potential following allogeneic HSCT.Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2001;7(4):187-96

Two Host Factors Regulate Persistence of H7a-Specific T Cells Injected in Tumor-Bearing Mice

BACKGROUND: Injection of CD8 T cells primed against immunodominant minor histocompatibility antigens (MiHA) such as H7(a) can eradicate leukemia and solid tumors. To understand why MiHA-targeted T cells have such a potent antitumor effect it is essential to evaluate their in vivo behavior. In the present work, we therefore addressed two specific questions: what is the proliferative dynamics of H7(a)-specifc T cells in tumors, and do H7(a)-specific T cells persist long-term after adoptive transfer? METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By day 3 after adoptive transfer, we observed a selective infiltration of melanomas by anti-H7(a) T cells. Over the next five days, anti-H7(a) T cells expanded massively in the tumor but not in the spleen. Thus, by day 8 after injection, anti-H7(a) T cells in the tumor had undergone more cell divisions than those in the spleen. These data strongly suggest that anti-H7(a) T cells proliferate preferentially and extensively in the tumors. We also found that two host factors regulated long-term persistence of anti-H7(a) memory T cells: thymic function and expression of H7(a) by host cells. On day 100, anti-H7(a) memory T cells were abundant in euthymic H7(a)-negative (B10.H7(b)) mice, present in low numbers in thymectomized H7(a)-positive (B10) hosts, and undetectable in euthymic H7(a)-positive recipients. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although in general the tumor environment is not propitious to T-cell invasion and expansion, the present work shows that this limitation may be overcome by adoptive transfer of primed CD8 T cells targeted to an immunodominant MiHA (here H7(a)). At least in some cases, prolonged persistence of adoptively transferred T cells may be valuable for prevention of late cancer relapse in adoptive hosts. Our findings therefore suggest that it may be advantageous to target MiHAs with a restricted tissue distribution in order to promote persistence of memory T cells and thereby minimize the risk of cancer recurrence

Small-animal SPECT and SPECT/CT: application in cardiovascular research

Preclinical cardiovascular research using noninvasive radionuclide and hybrid imaging systems has been extensively developed in recent years. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is based on the molecular tracer principle and is an established tool in noninvasive imaging. SPECT uses gamma cameras and collimators to form projection data that are used to estimate (dynamic) 3-D tracer distributions in vivo. Recent developments in multipinhole collimation and advanced image reconstruction have led to sub-millimetre and sub-half-millimetre resolution SPECT in rats and mice, respectively. In this article we review applications of microSPECT in cardiovascular research in which information about the function and pathology of the myocardium, vessels and neurons is obtained. We give examples on how diagnostic tracers, new therapeutic interventions, pre- and postcardiovascular event prognosis, and functional and pathophysiological heart conditions can be explored by microSPECT, using small-animal models of cardiovascular disease

Cross-protective murine graft-versus-leukemia responses to phenotypically distinct myeloid leukemia lines

AbstractA c-myc retrovirus-transformed myeloid leukemia line, MMB3.19, of C57BL/6 (B6) origin, was developed to investigate graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) activity in murine bone marrow transplantation (BMT) models. It was previously determined that both naive and leukemia-presensitized CD4+-enriched T cells are capable of mediating GVL activity to MMB3.19 challenge in both syngeneic (B6) and allogeneic (C3H.SW→B6) strain combinations, with the latter coinciding with minimal graft-versus-host disease. In the present study, MMB3.19 and 2 other similarly derived, yet phenotypically diverse, B6 myeloid leukemia lines (MMB1.10 and MMB2.18) were investigated for potential shared tumor antigens in the syngeneic GVL model. Morphologically, all 3 tumor lines are blastic with high cytoplasmic:nuclear ratios, but MMB2.18 displays dendritic processes, whereas MMB1.10 and MMB3.19 have a more rounded appearance. Flow cytometric analysis of the 3 lines revealed constitutive surface molecule expression of Mac-1, Mac-2, F4/80, LFA-1, B7-1, B7-2, H2Kb, H2Db, and macrophage scavenger receptor, consistent with macrophage/monocyte lineages. Furthermore, each of the lines expresses H2I-Ab, but to varying degrees, with MMB2.18 cells having the lowest percentage (31.6%). In vitro 51Cr release assays using MMB3.19-primed T-cell effectors demonstrated equivalent specific lysis of all 3 leukemia-line target cells. In addition, enzyme-linked immunospot analysis of MMB3.19-primed CD4+ T cells revealed significantly increased frequencies of tumor-stimulated interleukin (IL)-2-, IL-4-, and interferon-gamma-secreting cells when restimulated with each of the 3 leukemia lines. Furthermore, when MMB3.19-primed CD4+ T cells were administered in a BMT setting, a protective GVL effect was seen in those mice challenged with MMB1.10, MMB2.18, or MMB3.19. Therefore, in vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that the 3 distinct myeloid leukemia lines share 1 or more common major histocompatibility complex class II-restricted tumor antigens that can elicit a cross-protective in vivo T-cell GVL response.Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2000;6(5A):537-47