Hematopoietic stem cells promote the expansion and function of adoptively transferred antitumor CD8⁺ T cells
J. Clin. Invest. Claudia Wrzesinski, et al. 117:492 doi:10.1172/JCI30414 [Go to this article.]

Figure 1
Myeloablative TBI (9 Gy) with HSC transplant significantly enhances ACT and drives T cell expansion. (A) Increasing a nonmyeloablative regimen to a myeloablative one augmented ACT-mediated tumor treatment. C57BL/6 tumor-bearing mice were irradiated with 5 Gy or 9 Gy and received an HSC transplant (HSC); were left untreated as a control (NT); or received transfer of 1 × 10⁶ effector pmel-1 CD8⁺ T cells and rhIL-2 (PI). Tumor treatment efficacy was strongly improved in myeloablated mice (P = 0.0036; 5 Gy PI versus 9 Gy PI HSC). Results for tumor area are the mean of measurements from 6 mice per group (±SEM). Data are representative of 3 independent experiments. (B) HSC transplant drives the proliferation of transferred pmel-1 CD8⁺ T cells in a myeloablated host. Cultured gene-marked (Thy1.1⁺) pmel-1 CD8⁺ T cells (1 × 10⁶) were transferred with rhIL-2 into a nonmyeloablated or myeloablated host with or without an HSC transplant. At indicated days, the absolute numbers of adoptively transferred CD8⁺ T cells in the spleen of tumor-bearing mice were analyzed. Data shown represent 3 mice pooled per group. The experiment was performed 3 times, with similar results. (C) Increased serum levels of IL-7 and IL-15 were measured on day 5 after the HSC transplant in C57BL/6 mice by LINCOplex analysis. Data represent 3 mice pooled per group per time point. The experiment was performed twice, with similar results.