Immunogenic and tolerogenic effects of the chimeric IL-2-diphtheria toxin cytocidal agent Ontak® on CD25+ cells

Manfred B Lutz; Andreas S Baur; Beatrice Schuler-Thurner; Gerold Schuler

doi:10.4161/onci.28223

Immunogenic and tolerogenic effects of the chimeric IL-2-diphtheria toxin cytocidal agent Ontak^® on CD25⁺ cells

Oncoimmunology. 2014 Mar 17:3:e28223. doi: 10.4161/onci.28223. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Manfred B Lutz¹, Andreas S Baur², Beatrice Schuler-Thurner², Gerold Schuler²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Virology and Immunobiology; University of Wuerzburg; Wuerzburg, Germany.
² Department of Dermatology; University Hospital Erlangen; Erlangen, Germany.

Abstract

Ontak^®, a conjugate between IL-2 and a diphtheria toxin fragment, was recently investigated in cancer clinical trials aiming to kill CD25⁺ regulatory T cells (T_regs). We found that the activity of Ontak^® was more complex on T_regs and conventional T cells (T_convs) than anticipated, including a novel strong influence on dendritic cells (DCs).

Keywords: Ontak; T cells; dendritic cells; interleukin-2 receptor; regulatory T cells.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't