In vitro\ex vivo generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Abstract

The in vitro generation of human cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is a reliably approach useful not only to assess intrinsic CD8(+) T cell responses in individuals but also to screen immunogenic antigens that could be considered as candidates for adoptive immunotherapeutic approaches. In vitro methods to expand CTL require culturing naïve T cells with antigen-presenting cells (APC) as stimulator cells that express specific antigens. Here, we describe the protocol for generating CTL against target antigens presented by monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs).