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Cellular and Molecular Immunology logoLink to Cellular and Molecular Immunology
. 2009 Dec;6(6):469–475. doi: 10.1038/cmi.2009.59

Mitoxantrone-Mediated Apoptotic B16-F1 Cells Induce Specific Anti-tumor Immune Response

Chunyu Cao 1, Yu Han 1, Yushan Ren 1, Yanlin Wang 1,*
PMCID: PMC4003041  PMID: 20003823

Abstract

In the process of cell apoptosis induced by specific reagents, calreticulin (CRT) in endoplasmic reticulum is transferred and coated onto the cell membrane. As a sort of specific ligand, the CRT on the surface of apoptotic cells could mediate recognition and clearance of apoptotic cells by phagocytes. In this research we discovered that mitoxantrone could induce apoptosis of mouse melonoma B16-F1 tumor cells, accompanied by the membrane translocation and coating of CRT. When mitoxantrone-treated B16-F1 cells were used as antigen to inoculate mice, the mice acquired an ability to suppress proliferation of homologous tumor cells. Splenocytes from these mice showed an increased cytolytic effect on homologous B16-F1 cells but no such effect on non-homologous H22 tumor cells. All these results suggested that mitoxantrone-treated apoptotic B16-F1 cells could be used as a sort of cell vaccine to initiate effective anti-tumor immunoresponse in mice.

Keywords: calreticulin, tumor immune, mitoxantrone, apoptosis

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Glossary

CRT

calreticulin

NVI

mitoxantrone

LDH

lactate dehydrogenase

NBT

nitrotetrazoliumbluechloride

PMS

phenazine methosulfate

DAPI

4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole


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