Abstract. CD8+ T cells play critical roles in immunosurveil lance by killing malignant or virally infected cells. Interleukin 15 (IL-15) is a critical cytokine for promoting proliferation and the effector capacity of CD8 + T cells, and has been used to support the growth of CD8 + T cells in cellular therapies of neoplastic diseases. Recent studies have shown that IL-15, in synergy with other cytokines, such as IL-6, enhances the T-cell receptor (TCR)-independent proliferation and function of CD8 + T cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of BaF3-mb15-RAE cells in stimulating mouse CD8 + T cells. BaF3 cells were cultured and B16F10 cells were grown in DMEM. MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation of CD8 + T cells. Cells were analyzed using flow cytometry. The results showed that IL-15 synergistically acts with another T-cell stimulatory molecule, RAE1ε, to potently promote the proliferation of CD8 + T cells, induce CD8 + T-cell activation and enhance granzyme B and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production in the absence of signaling via the TCR. Moreover, IL-15 in combination with RAE1ε resulted in a cooperative effect on CD8 + T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity against B16F10 tumor cells. Thus, results of the present study showed that IL-15, in synergy with RAE1ε, enhances the TCR-independent effector function of CD8 + T cells in vitro, which may be useful in the cellular immunotherapy of cancer.
Introduction
Cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are effector cells that play a key role in immunosurveillance through the elimination of malignant or virally infected cells. Interleukin 15 (IL-15) is a pivotal cytokine for the activation and proliferation of cytotoxic CD8 + T cells (1-3). As opposed to other soluble cytokines that induce signals upon binding to their respective receptors, IL-15 delivery is relatively unique (4). IL-15 bound to its high-affinity receptor (IL-15R)α-chain may be retained on the cell surface and presented in trans to target cells such as CD8 + T cells, which express only IL-2/15Rβ and γ (5). The receptor-cytokine complex may act as a membrane-bound stimulatory molecule in a contact-dependent manner (6). Numerous studies raised the possibility that the IL-15/IL-15Rα complex is a promising and potent agent for tumor immunotherapy (7-11).NKG2D is an activating receptor present on the surface of mouse and human NK, γδT, human CD8 + T and activated mouse CD8 + T cells (12,13). The ligands for the NKG2D receptor include RAE1 (RAE1α-RAE1ε), Mult1 and H60 in the mouse, and MICA/B and RAET1, also known as UL-16 binding proteins (ULBPs), in the human (14,15). Results of previous studies showed that NKG2D may function as a costimulatory receptor for both mouse and human CD8 + T cells (16,17). IL-15 selectively upregulates the expression and function of NKG2D (18). In addition, IL-15 confers NK-like activity to effector CD8 + T cells, unveiling the cytotoxic properties of NKG2D (18).Since NKG2D and IL-15 play significant roles in the activation and/or expansion of CD8 + T cells (as mentioned above...