Dendritic cells loaded with pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) lysates induce antitumor immune killing effect in vitro

PLoS One. 2014 Dec 18;9(12):e114581. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114581. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

According to the cancer stem cells (CSCs) theory, malignant tumors may be heterogeneous in which a small population of CSCs drive the progression of cancer. Because of their intrinsic abilities, CSCs may survive a variety of treatments and then lead to therapeutic resistance and cancer recurrence. Pancreatic CSCs have been reported to be responsible for the malignant behaviors of pancreatic cancer, including suppression of immune protection. Thus, development of immune strategies to eradicate pancreatic CSCs may be of great value for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. In this study, we enriched pancreatic CSCs by culturing Panc-1 cells under sphere-forming conditions. Panc-1 CSCs expressed low levels of HLA-ABC and CD86, as measured by flow cytometry analysis. We further found that the Panc-1 CSCs modulate immunity by inhibiting lymphocyte proliferation which is promoted by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies. The monocyte derived dendritic cells (DCs) were charged with total lysates generated from Panc-1 CSCs obtained from tumor sphere culturing. After co-culturing with lymphocytes at different ratios, the Panc-1 CSCs lysates modified DC effectively promoted lymphocyte proliferation. The activating efficiency reached 72.4% and 74.7% at the ratios of 1∶10 and 1∶20 with lymphocytes. The activated lymphocytes secreted high levels of INF-γ and IL-2, which are strong antitumor cytokines. Moreover, Panc-1 CSCs lysates modified DC induced significant cytotoxic effects of lymphocytes on Panc-1 CSCs and parental Panc-1 cells, respectively, as shown by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. Our study demonstrates that the development of CSCs-based vaccine is a promising strategy for treating pancreatic cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • B7-2 Antigen / genetics
  • B7-2 Antigen / metabolism
  • Cell Extracts / pharmacology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Dendritic Cells / drug effects
  • Dendritic Cells / immunology*
  • HLA Antigens / genetics
  • HLA Antigens / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Interferon-gamma / genetics
  • Interferon-gamma / metabolism
  • Interleukin-2 / genetics
  • Interleukin-2 / metabolism
  • Lymphocyte Activation
  • Lymphocytes / immunology
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / chemistry
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / immunology*
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / immunology*

Substances

  • B7-2 Antigen
  • Cell Extracts
  • HLA Antigens
  • Interleukin-2
  • Interferon-gamma

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30801100).