Klin Onkol 2001; 14(3): 78-84.
Summary: Dendritic cells (DCs) are extremely efficient antigen-presenting cells lhal are patent stimulators ofboth Band T cell immune responses. Although DCs are normally present in extremely small numbers in the circulation, recent advances in DC biology have made it possible to generate DCs in culture. DCs can be generated in vitro from various cellular sources including bone marrow, cord blood and peripheral blood. Although culture conditions are extremely diverse, the majority of protocols grow DCs in GM-CSF and either TNF-alpha and/Dr IL-4. The addition of other growth factors such as SCF and Flt- 3 ligand and CD 40 can dramatically enhance DC recovery. Thus, DC at different stages of maturation, based on phenotype and capacity to capture antigen, can be obt~ined depending on culture conditions. For clinical applications, DCs can be generated in serum-free media and cryopreserved for future clinical applications. In Dur first experiments two-stage culture system was used for CD34+ precursors and 15-fold increase in DC yield was observed after 12 days of cultivation. The ability to obtain DCs in numbers suitable for manipulating immune responses has pushed DC-based immunotherapies into the spotlight for treatment of various malignancies. Today is dendritic cell vaccination strategy Dne of the most frequent experimental therapies evaluated in the clinical setting. with promising results.
