Summary
In this video we present the ex vivo generation and expansion of human CD40-activated B cells (CD40-B) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by stimulation with CD40 ligand and interleukin-4.
Abstract
CD40-activated B cells (CD40-B cells) have been identified as an alternative source of immuno-stimulatory antigen-presenting cells (APC) for cancer immunotherapy 1-3. Compared to Dendritic cells (DCs), the best characterized APC, CD40-B cells have several distinct biological and technical properties. Similar to DCs, B cells show an increased expression of MHC and co-stimulatory molecules (Fig.1b), exhibit a strong migratory capacity and present antigen presentation efficiently to T cells, after stimulation with interleukin-4 and CD40 ligand (CD40L). However, in contrast to immature or mature DCs, CD40-B cells express the full lymph node homing triad consisting of CD62L, CCR7/CXCR4, and leukocyte function antigen-1 (LFA1, CD11a/CD18), necessary for homing to secondary lymphoid organs (Fig.1a) 3. CD40-B cells can be generated without difficulties from very small amounts of peripheral blood which can be further expanded in vitro to very large amounts of highly-pure CD40-B cells (>109 cells per patient) from healthy donors as well as cancer patients (Fig.1c,d) 1,4.
In this protocol we demonstrate how to obtain fully activated CD40-B cells from human PBMC. Key molecules for the cell culture are CD40 ligand, interleukin-4 (IL-4) and cyclosporin A (CsA), which are replenished in a 3-4 day culture cycle. For laboratory purposes CD40-stimulation is provided by NIH/3T3 cells expressing recombinant human CD40 ligand (tCD40L NIH/3T3) 5. To avoid contamination with non-transfected cells, expression of the human CD40 ligand on the transfectants has to be checked regularly (Fig.2).
After 14 days CD40-B cell cultures consist of more than 95% pure B cells and an expansion of CD40-B cells over 65 days is frequently possible without any loss of function 1, 4. CD40-B cells efficiently take up, process and present antigens to T cells 6. They do not only prime naϊve, but also expand memory T cells 7,8. CD40-activated B cells can be used to study B-cell activation, differentiation and function. Moreover, they represent a promising tool for therapeutic or preventive vaccination against tumors 9.
Protocol
Materials
A. Preparation of Media:
| Feeder cell wild type medium | Feeder cell selection medium | ||
| Reagent | Concentration | Reagent | Concentration |
| DMEM-Ham’s / F12 | DMEM-Ham’s / F12 | ||
| L-Glutamine | 365 μg/mL | L-Glutamine | 365 μg/mL |
| FBS | 10 % | FBS | 10 % |
| HEPES | 10 mM | HEPES | 10 mM |
| Gentamycin | 15 μg/mL | Gentamycin | 15 μg/mL |
| G-418 | 0.7 mg/mL | ||
| CD40-B washing medium | CD40-B culture medium | ||
| Reagent | Concentration | Reagent | Concentration |
| IMDM | |
IMDM | |
| L-Glutamine | 584 μg/mL | L-Glutamine | 584 μg/mL |
| HEPES | 25 mM | HEPES | 25 mM |
| Gentamycin | 15 μg/mL | Gentamycin | 15 μg/mL |
| rh Transferrin | 50 μg/mL | ||
| rh Insulin | 5 μg/mL | ||
| AB-Humanserum | 10 % | ||
B. Miscellaneous Reagents:
| Reagent | Company | Order No |
| DMEM / Ham’s F12 | PAA | Cat No: E15-813 |
| IMDM | Invitrogen Gibco® | REF 21980-032 |
| Dulbecco’s PBS (10x) | PAA | Cat No H15-011 |
| AB-Human Serum | Invitrogen | Cat No 34005100 |
| holo-Transferrin human | Sigma | Cat No T0665 |
| Insulin human | Sigma | Cat No I2643 |
| Gencin® | Delta Select | Art No 7395800 |
| Recombinant Human Interleukin-4 | Immunotools | Cat No 11130045 |
| Cyclosporin A | Novartis | Cat No NDC 0078-0109-01 |
| FBS | LONZA | Cat No DE14-802C |
| HEPES Buffer | PAA | Cat No S11-001 |
| G-418 Sulphate | PAA | Cat No P02-012 |
| Trypsin/EDTA (10x) | Invitrogen Gibco® | REF 15400-054 |
C. Miscellaneous Supplies:
| Reagent | Company | Order No |
| Sterile pipette tips | Sarstedt | |
| 6-well plate | NUNC | Cat No 140675 |
| 50mL conical tube | BD Falcon™ | Cat No 352070 |
| Tissue culture flask | SARSTEDT | Cat No 83.1813.002 |
References
- Schultze, J. L. CD40-activated human B cells: an alternative source of highly efficient antigen presenting cells to generate autologous antigen-specific T cells for adoptive immunotherapy. J Clin Invest. 100, 2757-2765 (1997).
- Schultze, J. L., Grabbe, S., vonBergwelt-Baildon, M. S. DCs and CD40-activated B cells: current and future avenues to cellular cancer immunotherapy. Trends Immunol. 25, 659-664 (2004).
- Bergwelt-Baildon, M. v. o. n. CD40-activated B cells express full lymph node homing triad and induce T-cell chemotaxis: potential as cellular adjuvants. Blood. 107, 2786-2789 (2006).
- Wiesner, M. Conditional immortalization of human B cells by CD40 ligation. PLoS ONE. 3, 1464-14 (2008).
- Urashima, M., Chauhan, D., Uchiyama, H., Freeman, G. J., Anderson, K. C. CD40 ligand triggered interleukin-6 secretion in multiple myeloma. Blood. 85, 1903-1912 (1995).
- Lapointe, R., Bellemare-Pelletier, A., Housseau, F., Thibodeau, J., Hwu, P. CD40-stimulated B lymphocytes pulsed with tumor antigens are effective antigen-presenting cells that can generate specific T cells. Cancer Res. 63, 2836-2843 (2003).
- von Bergwelt-Baildon, M. S. Human primary and memory cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses are efficiently induced by means of CD40-activated B cells as antigen-presenting cells: potential for clinical application. Blood. 99, 3319-3325 (2002).
- Kondo, E. CD40-activated B cells can be generated in high number and purity in cancer patients: analysis of immunogenicity and homing potential. Clin Exp Immunol. 155, 249-256 (2009).
- Mason, N. J. RNA-loaded CD40-activated B cells stimulate antigen-specific T-cell responses in dogs with spontaneous lymphoma. Gene Ther. 15, 955-965 (2008).
