Abstract
Tumor-reactive CD4+ T helper (Th) cells play a critical role in antitumor immunity, due to their ability to induce CD8+ T cell-mediated cytotoxic activity and humoral response. This study focuses on the in vitro generation and expansion of Th cells specific for the tumor-associated antigen 'human epidermal growth factor receptor-2' (HER2). A protocol for efficient HER2 presentation was developed using autologous monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) as antigen presenting cells (APC) and purified HER2 protein as antigen source. Our data suggest that DC pulsed with recombinant protein of the extracellular domain (ECD) of HER2 (ECD/HER2) induce an ECD/HER2-specific Th cell response. This finding may facilitate the development of immunotherapy regimens without requiring defined immunogenic epitopes of the antigen.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 155-164 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Cytotechnology |
Volume | 38 |
Issue number | 1-3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2002 |
Keywords
- Adoptive T cell transfer
- Breast cancer
- Dendritic cells
- HER2
- Th cells
- Tumor-associated antigen