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Transduction with human telomerase reverse transcriptase immortalizes a rhesus macaque CD8+ T cell clone with maintenance of surface marker phenotype and function.

Authors :
Andersen H
Barsov EV
Trivett MT
Trubey CM
Giavedoni LD
Lifson JD
Ott DE
Ohlén C
Source :
AIDS research and human retroviruses [AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses] 2007 Mar; Vol. 23 (3), pp. 456-65.
Publication Year :
2007

Abstract

T cell lines and clones play a key role in basic studies of cellular immunology, and are also finding applications in adoptive immunotherapy. However, with proliferative expansion, T cells ultimately undergo cellular senescence and death, so that long-term culture of T cell clones is difficult to achieve. Expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in differentiated cells can maintain telomere length over many cell divisions, preventing senescence. We used a retroviral vector that expresses the human TERT (hTERT) gene to transduce a rhesus macaque-derived CD8(+) T cell clone specific for the MamuA*01-restricted immunodominant SIV gag epitope CM9. Extensive in vitro characterization revealed that the untransduced parental cells and the hTERT-transduced cells displayed comparable proliferation capacity, effector memory surface marker profiles, cytolytic activities, and cytokine profiles following antigen stimulation. The hTERT-transduced cells showed improved survival compared to parallel nontransduced cultures during in vitro propagation in long-term culture. Such immortalized T cells may be useful as a source of consistent controls for in vitro assays of cellular immune function, and as a potentially important reagent for autologous adoptive cellular immunotherapy studies in macaques.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0889-2229
Volume :
23
Issue :
3
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
AIDS research and human retroviruses
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
17411379
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1089/aid.2006.0194