The capacity of alveolar macrophages from mice injected with a metastatic Lewis lung carcinoma variant, LLC-C3, to regulate T-cell Con A blastogenesis and NK cytotoxicity was studied. During the first 5 days after subcutaneous tumor injection, alveolar macrophages were stimulatory to Con A blastogenesis of normal spleen cells. After 5 days, the alveolar macrophages shifted to become suppressive. The suppressive activity was extensive by day 11, when the primary and metastatic tumor foci were first detectable. The tumor-bearer alveolar macrophages also suppressed NK cytotoxicity. Alveolar macrophage suppressive activity was sensitive to indomethacin, suggesting a prostaglandin-dependent suppressor mechanism. Suppression was not mediated by the production of hydrogen peroxide or superoxide, as it was insensitive to catalase or superoxide dismutase. When normal alveolar macrophages were cultured with LLC-C3 supernatants for over 12 hours, suppressive activity was induced. The results of these studies show that alveolar macrophages of tumor bearers become suppressive with progressive tumor growth and might, thus, facilitate the development of pulmonary metastases.

Purpose: Allogeneic glioma cell lines that are partially matched to the patient at class I human leukocyte antigen (HLA) loci and that display tumor-associated antigens (TAA) or antigenic precursors [tumor antigen precursor proteins (TAPP)] could be used for generating whole tumor cell vaccines or, alternatively, for extraction of TAA peptides to make autologous dendritic cell vaccines. Experimental Design: Twenty human glioma cell lines were characterized by molecular phenotyping and by flow cytometry for HLA class I antigen expression. Twelve of the 20 cell lines, as well as analyses of freshly resected glioma tissues, were further characterized for protein and/or mRNA expression of 16 tumor antigen precursor proteins or TAA. Results: These 20 human glioma cell lines potentially cover 77%, 85%, and 78% of the U.S. Caucasian population at HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C alleles, respectively. All cells exhibited multiple TAA expressions. Most glioma cells expressed antigen isolated from immunoselected melanoma-2 (Aim-2), B-cyclin, EphA2, GP100, h1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V), IL13Ra2, Her2/neu, hTert, Mage, Mart-1, Sart-1, and survivin. Real-time PCR technology showed that glioblastoma specimens expressed most of the TAA as well. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and CD8 + CTL killed T2 cells when loaded with specific HLA-A2 + restricted TAA, or gliomas that were both HLA-A2 + and also positive for specificTAA (Mart-1, GP100, Her2/neu, and tyrosinase) but not those cells negative for HLA-A2 and/or lacking the specific epitope. Conclusions: These data provide proof-in-principle for the use of allogeneic, partially HLA patient^matched glioma cells for vaccine generation or for peptide pulsing with allogeneic glioma cell extracts of autologous patient dendritic cells to induce endogenous CTL in brain tumor patients.

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In this study, human monocytes/macrophages were observed to kill human U251 glioma cells expressing membrane macrophage colony-stimulating factor (mM-CSF) via a swelling and vacuolization process called paraptosis. Human monocytes responded to the mM-CSF-transduced U251 glioma cells, but not to viral vector control U251 glioma cells (U251-VV), by producing a respiratory burst within 20 min. Using patch clamp techniques, functional big potassium (BK) channels were observed on the membrane of the U251 glioma cell. It has been previously reported that oxygen indirectly regulates BK channel function. In this study, it was demonstrated that prolonged BK channel activation in response to the respiratory burst induced by monocytes initiates paraptosis in selected glioma cells. Forced BK channel opening within the glioma cells by BK channel activators (phloretin or pimaric acid) induced U251 glioma cell swelling and vacuolization occurred within 30 min. U251 glioma cell cytotoxicity, induced by using BK channel activators, required between 8 and 12 h. Swelling and vacuolization induced by phloretin and pimaric acid was prevented by iberiotoxin, a specific BK channel inhibitor. Confocal fluorescence microscopy demonstrated BK channels co-localized with the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria, the two targeted organelles affected in paraptosis. Iberiotoxin prevented monocytes from producing death in mM-CSF-expressing U251glioma cells in a 24 h assay. This study demonstrates a novel mechanism whereby monocytes can induce paraptosis via the disruption of internal potassium ion homeostasis.