1Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215004, P.R. China.
AbstractPrevious studies have drawn attention to dendritic cell (DC) vaccines; particularly the application of the tumor‑associated antigen‑targeted DC vaccine. The present study analyzed DCs derived from a normal individual and pulsed the cells with heat shock protein 70 peptide (Hsp70) and/or hepatitis B virus x antigen (HBxAg), a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)‑associated antigen. It was then investigated whether this method of vaccination induced strong therapeutic antitumor immunity. The results revealed that the Hsp70/HBxAg complex‑activated phenotype improves the functional maturation of DCs compared with using Hsp70 or HBxAg alone. Compared with either Hsp70 or HBxAg alone, matured DCs pulsed with the Hsp70/HBxAg complex stimulated a high level of autologous T‑cell proliferation and induced HCC‑specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which specifically killed HCC cells through a major histocompatibility complex class I mechanism. These results indicated that a vaccination therapy using DCs co‑pulsed with the Hsp70/HBxAg complex is an effective strategy for immunotherapy and may offer a useful approach to protect against HCC.