Cytotoxic activity of NIT⁺ T cells transduced after mitogen stimulation.

T cells of donor S.B. were stimulated with αCD3/αCD28–immobilized monoclonal antibodies for 3 days and subsequently with 10 IU/mL IL-2 for 2 days in 6-well plates before gene transfer. NIT⁺cells were purified as described and used for functional assays. (A) The cytotoxic activity of the NIT⁺ T cells is less than 10% against autologous EBV BLCL and allogeneic targets. Equally activated but unmodified T cells were used as controls, showing no difference between the 2 T-cell populations. (B) The result of the same NIT⁺ T cells 8 days later after secondary stimulation with autologous BLCLs. The cells lysed both autologous and allogeneic EBV BLCL with comparable activity.