Abstract: Objective To investigate specific cellular immune response induced by dendritic cells(DCs) activated by human papilloma virus (HPV) 16 E7 peptide. Methods DCs separated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells were induced with granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4), the DCs were then activated by HPV 16 E7 peptide. After that the surface antigens on the DCs were detected by flow cytometer. Homogenic mixed lymphocyte reaction (HMLR) with DCs was performed. LDH release assay was also used to detect the activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes(CTL)to Caski tumor cells, which was induced by DCs. Results The surface antigens on the activated DCs were highly expressed, such as CD1a(58.4±6.7)%, CD80(70.6±3.4)% and HLA-DR(74.8±4.2)%. HMLR showed that the activated DCs stimulated T cell proliferation significantly. Antigen-specific CTL induced by the activated DCs specifically killed Caski tumer cells, but had no effect on SiHa and AN3CA cells. Conclusions DCs loaded with HPV 16 E7 peptide can induce highly effective and specific cellular immune response.

Key words: Papillomavirus, human, Dendritic cells, T lymphocytes, cytotoxic, E7 antigen