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MHC class II presentation of endogenously expressed antigens by transfected dendritic cells

Gene Therapy volume 8, pages 487–493 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DC) present immunogenic epitopes of antigens in the context of MHC class I and class II molecules in association with costimulatory molecules, and efficiently activate both cytotoxic T cells and T helper cells. Gene modified DC expressing antigen encoding cDNA represent a particularly attractive approach for the immunotherapy of disease. We previously described a gene delivery system for DC based on receptor-mediated endocytosis of ligand/polyethylenimine (PEI) DNA transfer complexes that target cell surface receptors which are abundantly expressed on DC. Employing this gene delivery system, DC were generated that express chicken ovalbumin (OVA) cDNA as a model antigen and introduce antigen into the MHC class I presentation pathway. We demonstrate here that modification of OVA cDNA as transferrin receptor (TfR) or invariant chain (Ii) fusions effectively generate MHC class II specific immune responses in addition to MHC class I responses. TfR-OVA contains the membrane anchoring region of transferrin receptor and represents a membrane-bound form of OVA for access to the MHC class II compartment. Ii-OVA fusions directly target the MHC class II processing pathway. Thus, modification of antigen encoding cDNA represents a convenient and effective means to direct antigens to MHC class II presentation and thus to generate T cell help.

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Acknowledgements

We thank FR Carbone and WR Heath for OT-I mice and plasmid DNA, SM Kurz for recombinant mouse GM-CSF, T Blankenstein for helpful discussions, S Knespel for technical assistance and I Gallagher for expert secretarial assistance. This work was in part funded by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, SFB506 and Ze231 and Ko 810/4-4) to MZ and NK, respectively. SD was supported by the MDC Gene Therapy Program.

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Author notes

  1. S S Diebold

    Present address: Imperial Cancer Research Fund, ICRF, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin, Germany

    S S Diebold & M Zenke

  2. Institute for Molecular Pathology, IMP, Vienna, Austria

    M Cotten

  3. Department of Immunobiology, Institute for Zoology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    N Koch

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  1. S S Diebold
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  2. M Cotten
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  3. N Koch
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  4. M Zenke
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Diebold, S., Cotten, M., Koch, N. et al. MHC class II presentation of endogenously expressed antigens by transfected dendritic cells. Gene Ther 8, 487–493 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3301433

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