Antigen-Specific Polyclonal Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes Induced by Fusions of Dendritic Cells and Tumor Cells

Figure 1

Antigen-processing and -presentation by DCs/tumor fusions. DCs/tumor fusions express MHC class I and II, costimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86), and multiple tumor-associated antigens. The DCs/tumor fusions are able to process multiple tumor-derived peptides and MHC class I peptides derived from tumor and DCs. They form MHC class I-peptide complexes, in the endoplasmic reticulum, which are transported to the cell surface of fusions and presented to CD8+ T cells. The DCs/tumor fusions can also synthesize MHC class II peptides derived from DCs in the endoplasmic reticulum, which are transported to the cytoplasm, where MHC class II-peptide complexes are assembled with multiple tumor-derived peptides. These complexes are presented to CD4+ T cells, which are essential for induction of antigen-specific polyclonal CTLs.