Synthetic phosphoantigens enhance human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T lymphocytes killing of non-Hodgkin's B lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Non-Hodgkin's B lymphomas (NHL) are often resistant to conventional treatments and, until now, immunotherapeutic approaches against NHL only aimed at inducing anti-tumor effectors. Nevertheless, human blood Vgamma9Vdelta2 T lymphocytes represent an abundant pool of cytotoxic tumor-reactive cells. Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells are strongly activated by natural compounds, from which powerful synthetic ligands have been derived. These synthetic antigens induce efficient Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cell responses in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We set up a series of Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cell-activation experiments, including cytotoxic activity and amplification from whole blood cells. Several types of Vgamma9Vdelta2 effectors were challenged against a panel of 16 B lymphoma cell lines. These tests have been performed in the absence and presence of -specific synthetic ligands to evaluate the effect of such molecules on anti-tumor activity. RESULTS: We report here that Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells recognize B lymphomas. This recognition is associated with the cytotoxic activity against B-lymphoma cells and/or proliferative responses, and appears to be T-cell antigen receptor (TCR)-dependent. Because few B lymphoma induce a complete set of Vgamma9Vdelta2 cell responses, a chemical ligand of Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells was used to enhance both proliferation and cytotoxic activity of anti-B lymphoma effectors. We show that such synthetic compound improves Vgamma9Vdelta2 CTL numbers and lysis of B lymphoma lines, especially when the targets are already spontaneously recognized by these effectors. CONCLUSIONS: We report here that human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells anti-B lymphoma response can be improved by use of specific synthetic ligands, which enhance their cytotoxic activity and allows their rapid expansion ex vivo.