Background The role of Wilms＇ tumor 1 protein （WT1）-specific cytotoxic T cells （CTL） in eradicating chronic myeloid leukemia （CML） cells is to be established. The aim of this study was to determine whether WT1 ...Background The role of Wilms＇ tumor 1 protein （WT1）-specific cytotoxic T cells （CTL） in eradicating chronic myeloid leukemia （CML） cells is to be established. The aim of this study was to determine whether WT1 contributed to the graft-versus-leukemia effects （GVLE） for CML following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation （HSCT）. Methods High-resolution human leukocyte antigen （HLA） class I genotyping was performed by sequence-specific polymerase chain reaction （PCR）. Fifteen HLA-A~＊2402 patients with CML who underwent allogeneic HSCT were enrolled in this study. We monitored the frequency of WT1-specific CTL by pentamer assay and the molecular minimal residual disease by real-time quantitative PCR.Results A CD8＋ T-cell response to WT1 was observed in 14 of 15 patients after HSCT. The median frequencies of WT1-CTL were 0.54%, 0.62%, 0.81% and 1.28% （%CD8） on days 30, 60, 90 and 180, respectively. The median frequency of WT1-CTL （1.38%） in patients with molecular remission （MoR） was significantly higher than that in those without MoR （0.38%） on day 30, while no significant differences between them were detected on days 60, 90 and 180. The increase of WT1-CTL was associated with a decrease in bcr-abl expression and MoR; and the decrease of WT1-CTL was associated with an increase in bcr-abl expression, suggesting a WT1 -driven GVL effect. WT1-CTL had a predominant effector-memory phenotype （CD45RO＋CD27-CD57＋）.Conclusions The emergence of WT1-CTL with an effector-memory phenotype is associated with GVLE in CML patients after HSCT. This will pave the way for the WT1 vaccines to enhance GVLE after HSCT in CML.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the grants from the Outstanding Youth Fund of Natural Science Foundation （No. 30725038）, National 863 Hi-tech Project （No. IRT0702）, Invocation Team Fund （No. 2006AA02Z4A0） and the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China （No. 20060001108）.
文摘Background The role of Wilms＇ tumor 1 protein （WT1）-specific cytotoxic T cells （CTL） in eradicating chronic myeloid leukemia （CML） cells is to be established. The aim of this study was to determine whether WT1 contributed to the graft-versus-leukemia effects （GVLE） for CML following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation （HSCT）. Methods High-resolution human leukocyte antigen （HLA） class I genotyping was performed by sequence-specific polymerase chain reaction （PCR）. Fifteen HLA-A~＊2402 patients with CML who underwent allogeneic HSCT were enrolled in this study. We monitored the frequency of WT1-specific CTL by pentamer assay and the molecular minimal residual disease by real-time quantitative PCR.Results A CD8＋ T-cell response to WT1 was observed in 14 of 15 patients after HSCT. The median frequencies of WT1-CTL were 0.54%, 0.62%, 0.81% and 1.28% （%CD8） on days 30, 60, 90 and 180, respectively. The median frequency of WT1-CTL （1.38%） in patients with molecular remission （MoR） was significantly higher than that in those without MoR （0.38%） on day 30, while no significant differences between them were detected on days 60, 90 and 180. The increase of WT1-CTL was associated with a decrease in bcr-abl expression and MoR; and the decrease of WT1-CTL was associated with an increase in bcr-abl expression, suggesting a WT1 -driven GVL effect. WT1-CTL had a predominant effector-memory phenotype （CD45RO＋CD27-CD57＋）.Conclusions The emergence of WT1-CTL with an effector-memory phenotype is associated with GVLE in CML patients after HSCT. This will pave the way for the WT1 vaccines to enhance GVLE after HSCT in CML.
