PMID: 11325845Apr 28, 2001Paper

Enhanced activation of human T cells via avipox vector-mediated hyperexpression of a triad of costimulatory molecules in human dendritic cells

Cancer Research
M ZhuK Y Tsang

Abstract

T-cell activation usually requires at least two signals. The first signal is antigen-specific, and the second signal(s) involves the interaction of a T-cell costimulatory molecule(s) on the antigen-presenting cell (APC) with its ligand on the T cell. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent APCs, attributable, in part, to their expression of several T-cell costimulatory molecules. Human DCs generated in vitro, however, will vary in methods of generation and maturation and in terms of expression of different phenotypic markers-including costimulatory molecules-among different donors. We report here that a recombinant avipox (fowlpox, rF) vector has been constructed that can efficiently express the transgenes for three human T-cell costimulatory molecules (B7-1, ICAM-1, and LFA-3) as a result of individual early avipox promoters driving the expression of each transgene. This triad of costimulatory molecules (designated TRICOM) was selected because each has an individual ligand on T cells and each has been shown previously to prime a unique signaling pathway in T cells. We report here that rF-TRICOM can efficiently infect human DCs of different states of maturity and hyperexpress each of the three costimulatory molecules on the D...Continue Reading

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