Skip to main content
Download PDF

Volume 2 Supplement 2

Abstracts from the 1st Immunotherapy of Cancer Conference (ITOC1)

P24. Aviscumine enhances NK- cytotoxicity against tumor cells

Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer volume 2, Article number: P15 (2014) Cite this article

Background

The mistletoe lectin I belongs to a new class of anticancer drugs with type II ribosomal inhibitor activity. The recombinant mistletoe lectin (aviscumine) has shown immunomodulatory and cytotoxic activity in preclinical models as well as potential antitumor effects in phase I and I/II clinical trials. The aim of this study was to further elucidate the immunostimulatory capacity of aviscumine on natural killer (NK) cell function in a human ex-vivo model.

Methods

The effect of aviscumine (0.5 and 1 ng/ml) on the cellular cytotoxicity of NK cells isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 34 healthy volunteers was measured via a standard Chromium51 release assay against K562 chronic myelogenous leukemia cells. For further validation changes in expression of the NK cell activation marker CD107α was determined via flow cytometry (FACS) in 13 volunteers.

Results

Aviscumine induced a significant concentration-dependent increase in NK cellular cytotoxicity in about 54% of the volunteers (p<0.001). This enhancement was also observed with low dose IL-2 stimulation (p=0.01). FACS analysis revealed an aviscumine triggered up-regulation of the NK cell degranulation marker CD107a (p=0.001).

Conclusion

Functional ex-vivo analysis of NK cells from healthy donors revealed a direct immune stimulatory mechanism of aviscumine. These data further strengthen its potential as immunomodulatory antitumor agent and suggest that NK cell activity in peripherial blood may be evaluated as predictive biomarker in clinical trials.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic of Internal Medicine V, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria

    G Gamerith, A Amann, JM Huber, H Zwierzina & W Hilbe

  2. Department of General and Surgical Intensive Care, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria

    B Schenk

  3. Department of Radiology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria

    T Auer

  4. Clinic For Internal Medicine Vi, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria

    K Cima & J Löffler-Ragg

  5. Cytavis Biopharma Gmbh, Innsbruck, Austria

    H Lentzen

Authors
  1. G Gamerith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A Amann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B Schenk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. T Auer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. JM Huber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. K Cima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. H Lentzen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. J Löffler-Ragg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. H Zwierzina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. W Hilbe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gamerith, G., Amann, A., Schenk, B. et al. P24. Aviscumine enhances NK- cytotoxicity against tumor cells. j. immunotherapy cancer 2 (Suppl 2), P15 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/2051-1426-2-S2-P15

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/2051-1426-2-S2-P15

Keywords

  • Natural Killer
  • Natural Killer Cell
  • Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Cell
  • Mistletoe Lectin
  • Chromium51 Release Assay