Potent anti-prostate cancer immune response induced by dendritic cells transduced with recombinant adenoviruses encoding 4-1BBL combined with cytokine-induced killer cells.

Objective: To test the effect of dendritic cells (DCs) transduced with recombinant adenoviruses encoding 4-1BBL combined with cytokine-induced killer cells (CIKs) against prostate cancer.

Methods: Flow cytometry was used to detect the surface markers of the co-cultured cells, and cytotoxicity against prostate cancer cells in vitro as well as antitumor activities in vivo were observed.

Results: Our results showed that Ad-4-1BBL-transduced DCs could increase percentage of CD3(+)CD56(+) cells in CIKs, and CIKs co-cultured with Ad-4-1BBL-transduced DCs could augment the secretion of IL-12 and IFN-γ and decrease TGF-β production. In addition, Ad-4-1BBL-transduced DCs enhanced the cytotoxicity of CIKs against prostate cancer and resulted in inhibition of tumor growth and tumor-bearing animals' survival.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate that 4-1BBL-engineered DCs can improve CIKs cytotoxicity against prostate cancer cells.