Allogeneic DCG promote lung NK cell activation and antitumor effect after invariant NKT cell activation

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to investigate whether allogeneic dendritic cells pulsed with alpha-galactosylceramide (DCG) treatment induces activation of Natural Killer T (NKT) cells.

Materials and methods: C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice were injected with syngeneic and allogeneic DCG. We then examined NK and NKT cell activity in the lung and spleen and antitumor effect in various lung tumor metastatic models.

Results: While splenic NKT activity was suppressed after allogeneic DCG treatment, allogeneic DCG treatment induced similar antitumor effect as well as lung NKT and NK cell activity compared to syngeneic DCG treatment. Furthermore, allogeneic DCG treatment prolonged survival in B16F10, LLC, Pan02, MethA, and CT26 tumor models in two strains of mice.

Conclusion: This allogeneic DCG treatment could be substituted for syngeneic DCG treatment. The results obtained in the present study suggest that allogeneic DCG treatment may provide a new approach in cancer immunotherapy with NKT cells.

Keywords: NK cells; NKT cells; allogeneic cells; dendritic cells; tumor immunity.