Expression of murine interleukin 7 in a murine glioma cell line results in reduced tumorigenicity in vivo.

We have examined the immunoregulatory effect of local and continuous secretion of interleukin 7 (IL-7) from murine glioma cells (203-glioma) engineered by murine IL-7 gene transfection. Secretion of IL-7 from glioma cells did not result in morphology or growth rate changes but did reduce tumorigenicity in vivo in proportion to the amount of IL-7 produced. This reduction in tumorigenicity could be reversed in a dose-dependent fashion by injection of anti-IL-7 neutralizing monoclonal antibody at the tumor site. Mice immunized with IL-7-producing glioma cells showed a specific immune response to 203-glioma but not to two other syngeneic cell lines (B-16, a melanoma, and YM-12, a fibrosarcoma). IL-7-producing glioma cells were not rejected in mice depleted of CD8+ cells but were rejected in mice depleted of CD4+ or NK1.1+ cells. These results suggest that CD8+ T cells may play an important role in tumor rejection.