Morphologic and immunophenotypic characterization of a cell line derived from liver tissue with Epstein-Barr virus associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease

B cells under influence: transformation of B cells by Epstein-Barr virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an extremely successful virus, infecting more than 90% of the human population worldwide. After primary infection, the virus persists for the life of the host, usually as a harmless passenger residing in B cells. However, EBV can transform B cells, which can result in the development of malignant lymphomas. Intriguingly, the three main types of EBV-associated B-cell lymphoma - that is, Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and post-transplant lymphomas - seem to derive from germinal-centre B cells or atypical survivors of the germinal-centre reaction in most, if not all, cases, indicating that EBV-infected germinal-centre B cells are at particular risk for malignant transformation.

Effects of immunotherapy on experimental immunodeficiency-related lymphoproliferative disease

BACKGROUND

Human lymphokine-activated cells (LAK cells) and interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) have been used clinically in the therapy of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). However, the efficacy of such therapy has not been extensively tested under controlled experimental conditions.

METHODS

A B-cell line, derived from PTLD tissue and clonally related to the parent lesion, was tested for its response to IFN-alpha in vitro. The effects of LAK cells and IFN-alpha therapy were examined in a severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID) mouse model in vivo.

RESULTS

The PTLD cell line studied showed a 30% decrease in the rate of growth upon incubation with 500 U/ml of IFN-alpha. This in vitro response was also reproduced in vivo, in tumor therapy studies conducted in SCID mice. The magnitude of this inhibitory effect in vivo was a function of tumor burden and dose of IFN-alpha. In parallel experiments, LAK cells reduced the tumorigenicity of a lymphoblastoid cell line derived from the peripheral blood of a patient with PTLD, and prolonged the survival of SCID-beige mice with established lymphoproliferative disease. In contrast with two prior studies, in which the use of autologous cytotoxic T cells was found to be necessary, we found the administration of third-party non-HLA-matched LAK cells also to be effective in reducing tumor burden.

CONCLUSIONS

These observations demonstrate the efficacy of immunotherapy for lymphoproliferative disease under controlled experimental conditions, and validate currently ongoing efforts exploring the utility of such therapy in the clinical setting.

In vitro culture of B-lymphocytes derived from Epstein-Barr-virus-associated posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease: cytokine production and effect of interferon-alpha

Epstein-Barr-virus-associated posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease ranges from transient lymphadenitis to aggressive lymphoma. This study characterizes an in vitro model to study the pathogenesis of this disease with a cell culture system. Five B-cell lines derived from posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease tissue were characterized with regard to immunophenotype, karyotype, molecular genetics, cytokine production, and growth regulation. All cell lines expressed CD19, CD21, CD22, CD43, and CD77, but not CD10 antigens. Immunoglobulin light chain restriction was seen in four of five cell lines, and cytogenetic abnormalities were demonstrable in three of the five. Cells proliferating in culture contained multiple Epstein-Barr virus episomes and showed lytic viral replication. All cell lines produced tumor necrosis factor-beta and interleukin-10 without evidence of autocrine growth regulatory loops involving these cytokines. No evidence of IL-1 alpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5 or IL-6 production was found by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Adding 500 U IFN-alpha/ml to the culture medium resulted in 30% inhibition of [3H]thymidine incorporation.

Isolation of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes That Lyse Reed-Sternberg Cells: Implications for Immune-Mediated Therapy of EBV+ Hodgkin's Disease

A subset of Hodgkin's disease (HD) patients have detectable Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genomes in the malignant Reed-Sternberg (R-S) cells. R-S cells express only a limited set of latent EBV proteins, but only LMP1 and LMP2 can potentially elicit a CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response. We have evaluated if either of these proteins could be used as targets for specific adoptive T-cell therapy for EBV-positive (EBV+) HD. The success of this strategy requires that R-S cells are susceptible to lysis by CD8+ CTL, and that CTL specific for LMP1 and LMP2 can be detected and potentially amplified in HD patients. Antigen presentation and CTL sensitivity was evaluated with an in vitro maintained, phenotypically representative R-S cell line, HDLM-2. The R-S cells were able to process and present viral proteins, and to be efficiently lysed by specific CTL in a Class I–restricted manner. Since CTL responses to LMP1 and LMP2 do not represent the dominant responses to EBV, we examined if CTL clones specific for these proteins could be isolated despite the presence of weak or nondetectable responses in polyclonal T-cell lines. LMP-specific clones were generated from individuals either by cloning from the polyclonal EBV-reactive T-cell lines or by direct stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with cells expressing LMP1 or LMP2 as the only EBV protein. Our ability to isolate CTL specific for LMP proteins from individuals with HD and the sensitivity of R-S cells for CTL-mediated lysis suggest that the pursuit of specific adoptive immunotherapy represents a viable strategy for the subset of HD patients with EBV+ tumors.

Interleukin-10 production by a B-cell line derived from human post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a cytokine known to regulate growth and differentiation in activated human B cells. We studied IL-10 production in a B-cell line derived from Epstein-Barr virus associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) demonstrated IL-10 mRNA within the cells. Transcripts of the virally encoded homologue BCRF-1 were not detected. ELISA assays demonstrated translation of IL-10 message into the corresponding cytokine, and its subsequent secretion into the culture medium. The rate of 3H-thymidine incorporation by the PTLD cells was not affected by immunologic neutralization of the secreted cytokine, or, by addition of exogenous recombinant IL-10 to the culture medium. Thus, IL-10 does not have an autocrine growth regulatory role in this PTLD line.