Antitumor cytotoxicity mediated by ligand-activated human V alpha24 NKT cells.

Kawano, T; Nakayama, T; Kamada, N; Kaneko, Y; Harada, M; Ogura, N; Akutsu, Y; Motohashi, S et al. · Cancer Res · 1999

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Human V alpha24 NKT cells bearing an invariant V alpha24J alphaQ antigen receptor, the counterpart of the murine V alpha14 NKT cells, are activated by the specific ligand, alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer) in a CD1d-dependent manner. Here, we demonstrate that the alpha-GalCer-activated V alpha24 NKT cells exert a potent perforin-dependent cytotoxic activity against a wide variety of human tumor cell lines. In addition, we demonstrate that V alpha24 NKT cells and dendritic cells (DCs) from melanoma patients are functionally normal, even in the tumor-bearing status. The potential use of alpha-GalCer-activated V alpha24 NKT cells and/or DCs from patients for cancer immunotherapy is discussed.

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