Establishment of a stable T lymphoma cell line transduced with HLA-A*24:02-restricted WT1-specific TCR genes and its application to antigen-specific immunomonitoring

Biomed Res. 2013 Feb;34(1):41-50. doi: 10.2220/biomedres.34.41.

Abstract

Wilms' tumor gene 1 (WT1) has been proposed as an attractive target for cancer immunotherapy. A natural 9-mer peptide (CYTWNQMNL), which bound to human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*24:02, was identified from among WT1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes. This natural WT1 CTL epitope peptide was further modified (CMTWNQMNL) to enhance its binding affinity to HLA-A*24:02. This modified WT1 CTL epitope peptide was superior to the natural peptide for inducing HLA-A*24:02-restricted WT1-specific CTLs. Here we induced several WT1 CTLs that reacted with both modified and natural WT1 tetramers from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Then, T-cell receptor (TCR) genes were isolated from these WT1 CTLs to determine their Vα and Vβ usage. These TCR genes were transduced into human T lymphoma cells to establish a stable cell line, SK37, which expressed a WT1-specific TCR. We confirmed that SK37 cells reacted with both modified and natural WT1 tetramers, which indicated that SK37 cells could be a useful tool for WT1 tetramer reagent quality assurance. One the basis of these findings, we propose that this WT1 tetramer, which was quality-assured using established SK37 cells, will contribute to reliable immunomonitoring of tumor-specific CTL responses of cancer patients who receive WT1-targeted cancer vaccine therapy or TCR-gene therapy.

MeSH terms

  • Cancer Vaccines
  • Cell Line, Tumor*
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / genetics
  • Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / immunology
  • Genes, T-Cell Receptor / genetics*
  • Genes, Wilms Tumor*
  • Genetic Therapy
  • HLA-A24 Antigen / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy
  • Leukocytes, Mononuclear
  • Lymphoma, T-Cell / genetics*
  • Lymphoma, T-Cell / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / metabolism
  • Transduction, Genetic*

Substances

  • Cancer Vaccines
  • Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
  • HLA-A*24:02 antigen
  • HLA-A24 Antigen