Autologous lymphocyte responses to adenovirus-B7-1-transduced human cancer cells

Transfection of the costimulatory molecule B7-1 (CD80) into murine tumors can increase antitumor immunity and eradicate tumor growth. The purpose of this study was to test autologous lymphocyte responses against freshly resected human cancers infected in vitro with an adenovirus vector expressing the B7-1 molecule (AdB7). Resected tumors (sarcomas, adenocarcinomas, melanomas, and multiple myelomas) were disaggregated into single-cell suspensions and divided into three groups: (a) native, noninfected tumor cells (TM); (b) AdB7-infected, B7-1+ tumor cells (TMB7); and (c) control Addl70.3-infected, B7-1− tumor cells (TMAd). B7-1 expression was verified by flow cytometry. Autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes from these patients were tested for proliferative and cytotoxic activity against the three tumor groups. There was an increased lymphocyte-proliferative response against B7-1+ tumor cells, particularly in the presence of interleukin-12 (IL-12) or low-dose IL-2. B7-1+ tumor cells were also killed more efficiently than B7-1− tumor cells in natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity assays, and this was most significant when lymphocytes had been pretreated with IL-12. Human natural killer cells were found to express CD28, a receptor for B7-1. The high efficiency of AdB7-mediated gene transfer and the augmented B7-1-mediated lymphocyte responses suggest that AdB7 vectors may be effective in human cancer immunotherapy.