Preclinical evaluation of invariant natural killer T cells in the 5T33 multiple myeloma model

PLoS One. 2013 May 31;8(5):e65075. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065075. Print 2013.

Abstract

Immunomodulators have been used in recent years to reactivate host anti-tumor immunity in several hematological malignancies. This report describes the effect of activating natural killer T (NKT) cells by α-Galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) in the 5T33MM model of multiple myeloma (MM). NKT cells are T lymphocytes, co-expressing T and NK receptors, while invariant NKT cells (iNKTs) also express a unique semi-invariant TCR α-chain. We followed iNKT numbers during the development of the disease in both 5T33MM mice and MM patients and found that their numbers dropped dramatically at the end stage of the disease, leading to a loss of total IFN-γ secretion. We furthermore observed that α-GalCer treatment significantly increased the survival of 5T33MM diseased mice. Taken together, our data demonstrate for the first time the possibility of using a preclinical murine MM model to study the effects of α-GalCer and show promising results of α-GalCer treatment in a low tumor burden setting.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, CD1d / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Galactosylceramides / administration & dosage
  • Galactosylceramides / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Interferon-gamma / metabolism
  • Lymphocyte Count
  • Mice
  • Multiple Myeloma / drug therapy
  • Multiple Myeloma / immunology*
  • Multiple Myeloma / metabolism
  • Multiple Myeloma / mortality
  • Natural Killer T-Cells / drug effects
  • Natural Killer T-Cells / immunology*
  • Natural Killer T-Cells / metabolism

Substances

  • Antigens, CD1d
  • Galactosylceramides
  • alpha-galactosylceramide
  • Interferon-gamma

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the International Myeloma Foundation, Vlaams Liga tegen Kanker (VLK), FWO-Vl and the European Commission Framework of the Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window under grant agreement 2009-1642/001-001-ECW. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.