In vitro expansion of Wilms' tumor protein 1 epitope-specific primary T cells from healthy human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Wilms' tumor protein 1 (WT1) is a tumor-associated antigen overexpressed in various cancers. As a self-antigen, negative selection reduces the number of WT1-specific T cell receptors (TCRs). Here, we provide a protocol to generate WT1-specific TCRs using healthy human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We describe the expansion of WT1-specific T cell clones by two consecutive in vitro stimulations with autologous WT1-pulsed dendritic cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes. We then detail the detection with human leukocyte antigen/WT1 tetramers.