Peptide-beta2-microglobulin-major histocompatibility complex expressing cells are potent antigen-presenting cells that can generate specific T cells.

Adoptive T-cell therapy represents a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer. Successful adoptive immunotherapy depends on the ex vivo priming and expansion of antigen-specific T cells. However, the in vitro generation of adequate numbers of functional antigen-specific T cell remains a major obstacle. It is important to develop efficient and reproducible methods to generate high numbers of antigen-specific T cells for adoptive T-cell transfer. We have developed a new artificial antigen-presenting cell (aAPC) by transfection of major histocompatibility (MHC) class I negative Daudi cells with a peptide-beta2-microglobulin-MHC fusion construct (single-chain aAPC) ensuring presentation of the peptide-MHC complex of interest. Using this artificial antigen-presenting cell, we could generate up to 9.2 x 10(8) antigen-specific cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells from 10 ml blood. In vitro generated T cells lysed endogenously presented antigens. Direct comparison of the single-chain aAPC with autologous monocyte-derived dendritic cells demonstrated that these cells were equally efficient in stimulation of T cells. Finally, we were able to generate antigen-specific T cell lines from perpheral blood mononuclear cells of patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy. The use of single-chain aAPC represent a promising option for the generation of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells, which could be used for adoptive T-cell therapy.