HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hsu, C. Articles by Morgan, R. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hsu, C. Articles by Morgan, R. A.

Primary Human T Lymphocytes Engineered with a Codon-Optimized IL-15 Gene Resist Cytokine Withdrawal-Induced Apoptosis and Persist Long-Term in the Absence of Exogenous Cytokine¹

Surgery Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892

IL-15 is a common -chain cytokine that has been shown to be more active than IL-2 in several murine cancer immunotherapy models. Although T lymphocytes do not produce IL-15, murine lymphocytes carrying an IL-15 transgene demonstrated superior antitumor activity in the immunotherapy of B16 melanoma. Thus, we sought to investigate the biological impact of constitutive IL-15 expression by human lymphocytes. In this report we describe the generation of a retroviral vector encoding a codon-optimized IL-15 gene. Alternate codon usage significantly enhanced the translational efficiency of this tightly regulated gene in retroviral vector-transduced cells. Activated human CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ human lymphocytes expressed IL-15R and produced high levels of cytokine upon retroviral transduction with the IL-15 vector. IL-15-transduced lymphocytes remained viable for up to 180 days in the absence of exogenous cytokine. IL-15 vector-transduced T cells showed continued proliferation after cytokine withdrawal and resistance to apoptosis while retaining specific Ag recognition. In the setting of adoptive cell transfer, IL-15-transduced lymphocytes may prolong lymphocyte survival in vivo and could potentially enhance antitumor activity.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Quintarelli, J. F. Vera, B. Savoldo, G. M. P. Giordano Attianese, M. Pule, A. E. Foster, H. E. Heslop, C. M. Rooney, M. K. Brenner, and G. Dotti Co-expression of cytokine and suicide genes to enhance the activity and safety of tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes Blood, October 15, 2007; 110(8): 2793 - 2802. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Hsu, S. A. Jones, C. J. Cohen, Z. Zheng, K. Kerstann, J. Zhou, P. F. Robbins, P. D. Peng, X. Shen, T. J. Gomes, et al. Cytokine-independent growth and clonal expansion of a primary human CD8+ T-cell clone following retroviral transduction with the IL-15 gene Blood, June 15, 2007; 109(12): 5168 - 5177. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]