Background: Alloreaction is known to accumulate several theoretical advantages that can improve dendritic cell (DC)-based anti-infective or antitumour strategies. Allogeneic DC have already been tested in experimental and clinical studies, but their efficacy compared with their autologous counterparts was rarely investigated and conclusions diverge.
Objective: This study compared antigen-specific T cell responses following priming with autologous versus allogeneic DC and examined the possibility of screening these responses in order to select allogeneic DC that lead to a great amplification.
Results: Allogeneic DC obtained from donors matched with the single HLA-A2 allele were efficient in generating in vitro peptide-specific T cell responses. When randomly chosen, allogeneic DC generated a broad range of antigen-specific T cell responses in comparison with autologous DC. When screened and selected, allogeneic DC markedly enhanced peptide-specific T cell priming and allowed a more efficient boosting of resulting T cells. These selected allogeneic DC provided a favourable cytokinic and cellular environment that can help concurrent antigen-specific responses.
Conclusion: Ex vivo selected allogeneic DC provide adjuvant effects that lead to amplification of concomitant antigen-specific T cell responses.