Study of the effect of PHA on proliferation and cytotoxicity of CIK cells

Objective:To study the effect of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) on cytokine induced killers' (CIK) proliferation and cytotoxicity.Methods:Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) from healthy donors were divided into two groups. 10% autologus plasma was used to incubate cells. In one group CIK cells were cultured by traditional method, and in the other group phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was added to stimulate PBMNCs for 24 hours, then cultured like incubating CIK cells. MTT method was used to evaluate their cytotoxicity to different target cells.Results:The proliferation rate of CIK and PHA-CIK cells were high. There was significant difference between them (P 0.05). Each group cells had high cytotoxicity. At the same higher effect/target ratio PHA-CIK cells' cytotoxicity was stronger than CIK cells' when targets were K562 cells (P 0.05).Conclusions:PHA-CIK cells had stronger proliferation and cytotoxicity than CIK cells. The result provides an experimental basis for biotherapy.