Induction of cytokines and expression of surface receptors in Mono Mac 6 cells after infection with different Legionella species.

The ability of Legionella species to multiply within human mononuclear phagocytes is usually regarded as being associated with their pathogenicity. Activation of host cells results in inhibition of intracellular Legionella multiplication. The most effective substance to induce macrophage activation, both in vivo and in vitro, is interferon-gamma. In addition, some evidence exists that macrophage-derived cytokines may contribute to the host defense against L. pneumophila, but the production of pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines by monocytes after infection with different Legionella species has not been reported with regard to their ability to multiply within the host cells. We therefore examined the production of TNF-alpha, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TGF-beta by Mono Mac 6 cells after infection with Legionella species of different human prevalence that differ in their ability to replicate within this macrophage-like cell line. After infection, Mono Mac 6 cells showed a cytokine response with time kinetics characteristic for the cytokine. Maximum cytokine levels produced differed with Legionella species, but were not related to intracellular multiplication rates. Moreover, LPS-tolerant Mono Mac 6 cells, which failed to produce cytokines, showed intracellular increase or decrease of bacterial numbers identical to that of untreated Mono Mac 6 cells. By FACS analysis, an up-regulation of CD14 (LPS receptor) and CD54 (ICAM-1) could be demonstrated. We conclude that, in the Mono Mac 6 cell line, induction of macrophage-derived cytokines after infection with members of the genus Legionella mimics an inflammatory reaction without association with intracellular multiplication rate.

Ex vivo generation of human cytomegalovirus-specific cytotoxic T cells by peptide-pulsed dendritic cells.

Adoptive transfer of donor-derived human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-specific T-cell clones can restore protective immunity after stem cell transplantation. Ex vivo induction of HCMV-specific T cells using HCMV-infected fibroblasts as stimulator cells confines this approach to HCMV-seropositive donors and requires the presence of infectious virus during the stimulation procedure. In this study, we describe a potential alternative strategy to generate HCMV-specific T cells ex vivo for adoptive immunotherapy. Generation of HCMV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) ex vivo was investigated using peptide-pulsed dendritic cells as antigen-presenting cells. HCMV-specific T cells were generated and sufficiently expanded for adoptive immunotherapy in 6 out of 14 HCMV-seropositive and 2 out of 11 HCMV-seronegative donors. The CTLs recognized HCMV-infected autologous fibroblasts. No lysis was observed with either non-infected autologous or HLA-mismatched infected fibroblasts. Staining with tetrameric HLA/peptide complexes revealed significant enrichment for peptide-specific T cells of up to 28% and > 90% of CD8(+) T cells after three and five specific stimulations respectively. In addition, the expansion rates indicated that ex vivo generation of > 1 x 10(9) HCMV-specific T cells was possible after 6--7 weeks when cultures were initiated with 1--5 x 10(6) responder cells. Thus, the approach with peptide-pulsed DCs to generate HCMV-specific CTLs is feasible for clinical application after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.