TY - JOUR A1 - Rettinger, Eva A1 - Meyer, Vida A1 - Kreyenberg, Hermann A1 - Volk, Andreas A1 - Kuçi, Selim A1 - Willasch, Andre Manfred A1 - Koscielniak, Ewa A1 - Fulda, Simone A1 - Wels, Winfried A1 - Bönig, Halvard-Björn A1 - Klingebiel, Thomas A1 - Bader, Peter T1 - Cytotoxic capacity of IL-15-stimulated cytokine-induced killer cells against human acute myeloid leukemia and rhabdomyosarcoma in humanized preclinical mouse models T2 - Frontiers in oncology N2 - Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) has become an important treatment modality for patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is also under investigation for soft tissue sarcomas. The therapeutic success is still limited by minimal residual disease (MRD) status ultimately leading to patients’ relapse. Adoptive donor lymphocyte infusions based on MRD status using IL-15-expanded cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells may prevent relapse without causing graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD). To generate preclinical data we developed mouse models to study anti-leukemic- and anti-tumor-potential of CIK cells in vivo. Immunodeficient mice (NOD/SCID/IL-2Rγc−, NSG) were injected intravenously with human leukemic cell lines THP-1, SH-2 and with human rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) cell lines RH41 and RH30 at minimal doses required for leukemia or tumor engraftment. Mice transplanted with THP-1 or RH41 cells were randomly assigned for analysis of CIK cell treatment. Organs of mice were analyzed by flow cytometry as well as quantitative polymerase chain reaction for engraftment of malignant cells and CIK cells. Potential of CIK cells to induce GvHD was determined by histological analysis. Tissues of the highest degree of THP-1 cell expansion included bone marrow followed by liver, lung, spleen, peripheral blood (PB), and brain. RH30 and RH41 engraftment mainly took place in liver and lung, but was also detectable in spleen and PB. In spite of delayed CIK cell expansion compared with malignant cells, CIK cells injected at equal amounts were sufficient for significant reduction of RH41 cells, whereas against fast-expanding THP-1 cells 250 times more CIK than THP-1 cells were needed to achieve comparable results. Our preclinical in vivo mouse models showed a reliable 100% engraftment of malignant cells which is essential for analysis of anti-cancer therapy. Furthermore our data demonstrated that IL-15-activated CIK cells have potent cytotoxic capacity against AML and RMS cells without causing GvHD. KW - preclinical KW - NSG mice KW - CIK cells KW - rhabdomyosarcoma KW - leukemia KW - immunotherapy Y1 - 2012 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/24839 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-248397 SN - 2234-943X VL - 2 IS - 32 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER -