Intratumoral IL-7 delivery by mesenchymal stromal cells potentiates IFNγ-transduced tumor cell immunotherapy of experimental glioma

Received 3 September 2009; received in revised form 23 October 2009; accepted 23 October 2009. published online 16 November 2009.

Abstract

The present study reports regression of pre-established experimental rat gliomas as a result of combining peripheral immunization using interferon gamma (IFNγ) transduced autologous tumor cells with local intratumoral delivery of interleukin 7 (IL-7) by mesenchymal stromal cells. IL-7 alone significantly decreased the tumor area and this effect was enhanced with IFNγ immunization. A higher density of intratumoral T-cells was observed in animals receiving combined therapies compared to rats receiving either cytokine alone suggesting that the therapeutic effect is dependent on a T-cell response.

Keywords: Glioma, Rats, Mesenchymal stem cells, Interleukin-7, Interferon gamma, Immunotherapy

a The Rausing Laboratory, BMC D14, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden

b Lund Strategic Research Center for Stem Cell Biology and Cell Therapy, BMC B10, Lund University, SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden

Corresponding author. Postal address: BMC D14, The Rausing Laboratory, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden. Tel.: +46 46 222 14 40; fax: +46 46 222 46 06.

PII: S0165-5728(09)00432-9

doi:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2009.10.017

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