Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Marja Heiskala

Per A Peterson

Michael R Jackson

Ann M Moriarty

Didier J Leturcq

Juli Degraw

T cell responses are often diminished in humans with a compromised immune system. We have developed a method to isolate, stimulate and expand na&#xef;ve cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursors (CTLp) to antigen-specific effectors, capable of lysing tumor cells in vivo. This ex vivo protocol produces fully functional effectors. Artificial antigen presenting cells (AAPCs;) transfected with human HLA class I and defined accessory molecules, are used to stimulate CDT cells from both normal donors and cancer patients. The class I molecules expressed to a high density on the surface of thecells are empty, allowing for efficient loading of multiple peptides that results in the generation of polyclonal responses recognizing tumor cells endogenously expressing the specific peptides. The responses generated are robust, antigen-specific and reproducible if the peptide epitope is a defined immunogen. This artificial antigen expression system can be adapted to treat most cancers in a significant majority of the population.

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Oitti, Finland

Marja Heiskala