Increasing functional avidity of TCR-redirected T cells by removing defined N-glycosylation sites in the TCR constant domain.

Adoptive transfer of T lymphocytes transduced with a T cell receptor (TCR) to impart tumor reactivity has been reported as a potential strategy to redirect immune responses to target cancer cells (Schumacher, T.N. 2002.

Use of lipophilic near-infrared dye in whole-body optical imaging of hematopoietic cell homing.

We develop an optical whole-body imaging technique for monitoring normal and leukemic hematopoietic cell homing in vivo. A recently developed near-infrared (NIR) lipophilic carbocyanine dye 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindotricarbocyanine iodide (DiR) is used to safely and directly label the membranes of human leukemic Pre-B ALL G2 cell lines as well as primary murine lymphocytes and erythrocytes. DiR has absorption and fluorescence maxima at 750 and 782 nm, respectively, which corresponds to low light absorption and autofluorescence in living tissues.

Adoptive immunotherapy of prostate cancer bone lesions using redirected effector lymphocytes.

Prostate cancer is currently the most commonly diagnosed noncutaneous malignancy in American men. When metastatic, usually to the bone, the disease is no longer curable and is usually treated palliatively with androgen ablation. However, after conversion to androgen-independent disease, there is no effective therapy currently available.