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Optimal culture conditions for the generation of natural killer cell-induced dendritic cells for cancer immunotherapy

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 9, pages 45–53 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines continue to be considered an attractive tool for cancer immunotherapy. DCs require an additional signal from the environment or other immune cells to polarize the development of immune responses toward T helper 1 (Th1) or Th2 responses. DCs play a role in natural killer (NK) cell activation, and NK cells are also able to activate and induce the maturation of DCs. We investigated the types of NK cells that can induce the maturation and enhanced function of DCs and the conditions under which these interactions occur. DCs that were activated by resting NK cells in the presence of inflammatory cytokines exhibited increased expression of several costimulatory molecules and an enhanced ability to produce IL-12p70. NK cell-stimulated DCs potently induced Th1 polarization and exhibited the ability to generate tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses. Our data demonstrate that functional DCs can be generated by coculturing immature DCs with freshly isolated resting NK cells in the presence of Toll-like receptor agonists and proinflammatory cytokines and that the resulting DCs effectively present antigens to induce tumor-specific T-cell responses, which suggests that these cells may be useful for cancer immunotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by grant no. RTI05-01-01 from the Regional Technology Innovation Program of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea.

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Author notes

  1. Professor J-J Lee, Department of Hematology–Oncology, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, 322 Seoyangro, Hwasun, Jeollanamdo 519-763, Korea. E-mail: drjejung@chonnam.ac.kr

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Jeollanamdo, Korea

    Thanh-Nhan Nguyen-Pham, Deok-Hwan Yang, Truc-Anh Thi Nguyen, Mi-Seon Lim, Cheol Yi Hong, Mi-Hyun Kim, Hyun Ju Lee, Youn-Kyung Lee, Duck Cho, Ik-Joo Chung & Je-Jung Lee

  2. Department of Hematology-Oncology, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Jeollanamdo, Korea

    Thanh-Nhan Nguyen-Pham, Deok-Hwan Yang, Soo-Young Bae, Jae-Sook Ahn, Yeo-Kyeoung Kim, Ik-Joo Chung, Hyeoung-Joon Kim & Je-Jung Lee

  3. Vaxcell-Bio Therapeutics, Jeollanamdo, Korea

    Mi-Seon Lim, Mi-Hyun Kim, Youn-Kyung Lee & Je-Jung Lee

  4. The Brain Korea 21 Project, Center for Biomedical Human Resources at Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea

    Ik-Joo Chung & Je-Jung Lee

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Nguyen-Pham, TN., Yang, DH., Nguyen, TA. et al. Optimal culture conditions for the generation of natural killer cell-induced dendritic cells for cancer immunotherapy. Cell Mol Immunol 9, 45–53 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2011.23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2011.23

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