Fig. 4.

Conjugating IL-12 on T cell surfaces increases T cell infiltration in solid tumors and effector function. A, Total number of T cells per 1,000 mm³ tumor (n = 5). B, Total number of CD4+ and (C) CD8+ T cells per 1,000 mm³ tumor (n = 5). D, Number of transferred CD8+Thy1.1+ T cells per 1,000 mm³ tumor (n = 5). E, Percentage of transferred Thy1.1+ CD8+ T cells among all T cells in lymph nodes (n = 5). F, heatmap of average expression level of Th1 cytokines in CD8+ T cells isolated from lymph nodes and (G) from spleen following ex vivo antigen restimulation and FAC analysis (n = 5). Animals were untreated (“tumor only;” light gray), treated with T cells without labeling and without IL-12 conjugation (“T cells;” dark gray), treated with T cells metabolically labeled and transiently exposed to non-DBCO-conjugated IL-12 prior to transfer (“NP + transient IL-12;” purple), treated with T cells that were labeled and transferred with the same quantity of soluble IL-12 (not DBCO conjugated) as was conjugated to T cells (“NP + continuous IL-12;” blue), or treated with T cells that were metabolically labeled and then conjugated with IL-12 prior to transfer (“NP + conjugated IL-12;” green); all data was collected 9 d after ACT. All statistics were calculated with one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test, *P < 0.05.