Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Volume 12, Issue 12 , Pages 1335-1342, December 2006

Antigen-Specific T-Lymphocyte Function After Cord Blood Transplantation

  • Geoff Cohen

      Affiliations

    • The EMMES Corporation, Rockville, Maryland
    • ,
  • Shelly L. Carter

      Affiliations

    • The EMMES Corporation, Rockville, Maryland
    • ,
  • Kenneth I. Weinberg

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
    • ,
  • Bernadette Masinsin

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
    • ,
  • Eva Guinan

      Affiliations

    • Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
    • ,
  • Joanne Kurtzberg

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
    • ,
  • John E. Wagner

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
    • ,
  • Nancy A. Kernan

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
    • ,
  • Robertson Parkman

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence and reprint requests: Robertson Parkman, MD, Division of Research Immunology/Bone Marrow Transplantation, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, The Saban Research Institute, 4650 Sunset Boulevard, Mail Stop 62, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

Received 21 June 2006; accepted 18 August 2006.

Abstract 

It has not been possible to determine the singular contribution of naive T lymphocytes to antigen-specific immunity after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), because of the confounding effects of donor-derived antigen-specific T lymphocytes present in most hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) products. Because umbilical cord blood contains only naive T lymphocytes, we longitudinally evaluated the recipients of unrelated cord blood transplantation (UCBT) for the presence of T lymphocytes with specificity for herpesviruses, to determine the contribution of the naive T lymphocytes to antigen-specific immune reconstitution after HSCT. Antigen-specific T lymphocytes were detected early after UCBT (herpes simplex virus on day 29; cytomegalovirus on day 44; varicella zoster virus on day 94). Overall, 66 of 153 UCBT recipients developed antigen-specific T lymphocytes to 1 or more herpesviruses during the evaluation period. The likelihood of developing antigen-specific T lymphocyte function was not associated with immunophenotypic T lymphocyte reconstitution, transplant cell dose, primary disease, or acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease. These results indicate that naive T lymphocytes present in the HSC inoculum can contribute to the generation of antigen-specific T-lymphocyte immunity early after transplantation.

Key words: Immune reconstitution, Antigen-specific immune function, Cord blood transplantation

 

PII: S1083-8791(06)00578-7

doi:10.1016/j.bbmt.2006.08.036

Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Volume 12, Issue 12 , Pages 1335-1342, December 2006

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