Chimeric immune receptors (CIR) transduced into lymphocytes link target recognition by single chain antibody Fv (scFv) to activation through CD28/TCRzeta signaling. As surrogate antigens, anti-idiotypic antibodies may facilitate gene-transduction and clonal expansion of human lymphocytes for in vivo tumor therapy. The murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) 8H9 reacts with a novel antigen widely expressed on solid tumors. A CIR consisting of human CD8-leader sequence, 8H9-scFv, CD28 (transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains), and TCR-zeta chain was constructed, ligated into the pMSCVneo vector, and used to transfect the packaging line GP + envAM12 bearing an amphotropic envelope. Rat anti-idiotypic MAb 2E9 (IgG2a) was used to clone retroviral producer line as well as to expand gene-modified primary human lymphocytes. Sequential enrichments using either affinity chromatography or cell sorting using anti-idiotypic MAb 2E9 significantly improved the percentage of producer clones positive for surface 8H9-scFv and the efficiency of their supernatant in transducing the indicator cell line K562. By 3 weeks of in vitro culture, >95% of transduced primary human lymphocytes were CIR-positive. Upon periodic stimulation with 2E9, these lymphocytes underwent >10(6)-fold expansion by 6 months in culture. They mediated antigen-specific non-MHC restricted cytokine release and tumor cytotoxicity, and inhibited human xenograft engraftment in SCID mice. Anti-idiotypic antibody may provide a useful tool for optimizing gene transduction of CIR fusion constructs into primary human lymphocytes and their continual expansion in vitro.