The invention involves the discovery that if dendritic cells loaded with a tumor antigen are cultured in interleukin-15 (IL-15), or if T cells activated by the dendritic cells are cultured in IL-15, Treg activity that is specific for the tumor antigen is reduced. This reduction in Treg activity results in an increase in anti-tumor immune response. Another embodiment of the invention involves the discovery that incubating dendritic cells with a MAP kinase inhibitor in combination with IL-15 gives synergistic benefits when the dendritic cells are used to activate T cells. Dendritic cell and T cell compositions incubated with IL-15 or a MAP kinase inhibitor are provided.
本发明发现,如果用白细胞介素-15(IL-15)培养负载有肿瘤抗原的树突状细胞,或者用 IL-15 培养由树突状细胞激活的 T 细胞,那么针对肿瘤抗原的特异性 Treg 活性就会降低。Treg 活性的降低会导致抗肿瘤免疫反应的增加。本发明的另一个实施方案发现,当树突状细胞用于激活 T 细胞时,将树突状细胞与
MAP 激酶
抑制剂和 IL-15 结合培养可产生协同效应。本发明提供了与 IL-15 或
MAP 激酶
抑制剂孵育的树突状细胞和 T 细胞组合物。