Figure 2.

Immunizations with mEphA2-derived peptides elicit anti-tumor CTLs. C57BL/6 mice received two cycles of s.c. immunization with 5 × 10⁵ DCs loaded with mEphA2-derived peptides or control OVA-derived peptides. One week after the second immunization, the animals were sacrificed, and SPCs were re-stimulated in vitro with the indicated peptides in the presence of 20 IU/ml hIL-2 for 7 days. Standard 4-hr (upper panel) and 20-hr (lower panel) ⁵¹Cr-release assays were used to assess cytotoxicity of the responder SPCs against the EphA2+ MCA205, GL261 and KR158D tumor cell lines. Each value represents the average of triplicate determinations for each group. YAC cells were evaluated as non-specific target cells, while EphA2-negative B16 melanoma cells were examined as negative control target cells in all groups, with the lysis of each of these targets constantly less than 10% (data not shown).