Efficacy of killer DC-DC treatment in acute GVHD model.
(A-C) Spleen cells and lymph node cells isolated from A/J mice were ex vivo activated overnight with γ-irradiated spleen cells isolated from (BALB/c × A/J) F1 mice in the presence of killer DC-DC hybrids (closed circles) or PBS alone (open circles). The resulting effector cells were infused IV at the indicated cell numbers into γ-irradiated (BALB/c × A/J) F1 host animals (11 animals/panel). The hosts received IV injections of killer DC-DC hybrids (closed circles) or PBS alone (open circles) on days 0, 3, 5, and 7. The data are representative of 2 independent experiments, showing the survival curves plotted by the Kaplan-Meier method, with P values calculated based on the generalized Wilcoxon test and the log-rank test (in parentheses) (A,C), and the means ± SEM of body weight in live animals (B). (*P < .05 between the killer DC-DC hybrid panel and the PBS control panel.) (D) Three additional animals in each panel receiving killer DC-DC hybrids (closed circles) or PBS alone (open circles) were killed on day 7 and examined for allospecific cytotoxicity in a standard 16-hour 51Cr release assay. Allospecificity was examined by comparing cytotoxicity against BALB/c-derived NS47 targets versus A/J-derived NS46 targets. The data are representative of 2 independent experiments, showing the cytotoxicity observed for individual animals in each panel (the means from triplicate samples) and the mean values from the 3 animals per panel. (*P < .05 and **P < .01 between the killer DC-DC hybrid panel and the PBS control panel.)
