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A stimulating presentation

Nature Biotechnology volume 20, pages 125–126 (2002)Cite this article

Engineered artificial antigen-presenting cells provide a defined system for the rapid expansion of cytotoxic T cells used in adoptive immunotherapy.

How can we arm and train a patient's own immune system to destroy a tumor or repel a chronic viral infection? A promising approach is to bypass normal immune regulatory mechanisms by generating an immune response ex vivo, and then to transfer the fully activated immune cells back into the patient. This treatment strategy requires the in vitro expansion of disease-specific T cells to numbers in the billions. In this issue, Maus et al.1 describe an “artificial APC” that, for the first time, provides a defined system with the capacity to drive large expansions of T cells ex vivo. This powerful artificial APC could augment current methods of T-cell stimulation; and moreover, it may herald a new generation of effector T cells for adoptive therapy.

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Figure 1: Multiple receptor–ligand interactions are required for efficient stimulation of CTL proliferation.

© Bob Crimi

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  1. research fellow in the Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, 20892, MD

    Mark E. Dudley

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  1. Mark E. Dudley
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Dudley, M. A stimulating presentation. Nat Biotechnol 20, 125–126 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0202-125

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0202-125

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