Effect of dendritic cells co-cultured with cytokine induced killer cells on cytotoxicity against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell

Objective To study proliferation,secreted cytokines,immune phenotypes and cytotoxicity on Raji cells by cytokine induced killer (CIK) cells co-cultured with dendritic cells (DC).Methods The mononuclear cells from peripheral blood of healthy individuals were extracted,then cultured the cells under 5 ％ CO2 at 37 ℃ for 2 hours.DC were induced from suspended cells,and CIK cells were from adherent cells.After 9 days of nurturing,two types of cells were mixed.CIK cells were cultured alone as the control.The cytotoxic activity of CIK and DC-CIK cells were detected by MTT assay.The morphologies,proliferation,secreted cytokines,and immune phenotypes of the two cells in day 0,3,6,9,12,15 in culture were monitored.Results In day 12 in culture,comparing with CIK cells,DC-CIK cells significantly enhanced the proliferation rate [(42.44±2.68) fold vs (30.01±2.05) fold] (t =11.64,P ＜ 0.05) and had increased IL-2,IFN-γ,IL-12 and TNF-α secretion [(124.34±12.57) ng/L vs (56.32±6.58) ng/L,(496.60±95.32) ng/L vs (247.80± 69.45) ng/L,(84.92±6.07) ng/L vs (24.18±3.31) ng/L,(380.6±45.95) ng/L vs (196.61±24.19) ng/L] (t =15.16,P ＜ 0.05; t =6.67,P ＜ 0.05; t =27.78,P ＜ 0.05; t =11.20,P ＜ 0.05),and there were more CD3+ CD8+ cells and CD3+ CD56+ cells in the co-culture [(71.79±1.73) ％ vs (60.37±3.24) ％,(48.54±3.30) ％ vs (33.07±2.22) ％](t =9.83,P ＜ 0.05; t =12.30,P ＜ 0.05),and DC-CIK cells had a significandy increased cytotoxicity on Raji cells in vitro at the same ratio of effector cells to target cells.Conclusion CIK cells have higher proliferation rate and cytotoxicity against Raji cells when co-cultured with DC. Key words: Dendritic cell;  Cytokine induced killer cell;  Lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's;  Adoptive cellular immunotherapy