Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 20, 2026
Preparation of Tumor Antigen-loaded Mature Dendritic Cells for Immunotherapy
Published on: August 1, 2013
Dendritic cell maturation induced by delivery of ultraviolet-mediated apoptotic colorectal cancer cell lines
Shigeaki Ishii1, Kazumasa Hiroishi, Jun-Ichi Eguchi
1Second Department of Internal Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8666, Japan.
Background:
Dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in the immune response. The aim of this study was to investigate apoptotic tumor cells as an antigen source for DC maturation.
Materials And Methods:
We compared the efficacy of ultraviolet (UV)-irradiation with that of gamma-irradiation in the induction of apoptosis of tumor cells. Phenotypic and functional changes of DCs were analyzed after co-incubation with UV-irradiated tumor cells.
Results:
UV-irradiation (1.8 J/cm2) was a more reliable method of inducing apoptosis than gamma-irradiation (20,000 rad). The expression of costimulatory molecules on DCs was upregulated after co-incubation with UV-irradiated tumor cells. When we performed allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction assay, UV-irradiated tumor cells-pulsed DCs stimulated allogeneic T lymphocytes more efficiently than DCs pulsed with gamma-irradiated cells (HT29, p = 0.0419 and WiDr, p = 0.0076).
Conclusion:
UV-irradiation reliably induces apoptosis in cultured colorectal cancer cells. DCs mature in function and expression of costimulatory molecules after co-incubation with apoptotic tumor cells. The clinical implications warrant further study.
