Background & objective: Dendritic cells (DCs) can activate immunologic naive T cells to initiate antigen-specific immune responses. This study was to in vitro induce mature DCs from malignant pleural effusions of patients with lung cancer.
Methods: Malignant pleural effusions (500-1 000 ml) were collected from 16 patients with primary lung cancer. Precursory DCs were obtained through density gradient centrifugation and magnetic cell sorting from malignant pleural effusions, and cultured with interleukin-4 (IL-4), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Morphology of DCs was observed under invert optical microscope and electronic microscope; phenotype of DCs was analyzed by flow cytometry. Effect of DCs on proliferation of tumor infiltrative lymphocytes (TILs) was observed through mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR).
Results: Mature DCs with typical morphology (elongated dendritic processions observed under invert optical microscope and electronic microscope) were induced from malignant pleural effusions. Expressions of surface phenotypes were higher in DCs induced for 48 h than in DCs induced for 0, 24, 96, and 192 h. When activated with DCs, proliferation of TILs was enhanced.
Conclusion: Mature DCs could be induced from malignant pleural effusions of patients with lung cancer.