16. Section for Studies on Host-immune Response

Research in the Section of Studies on Host-Immune Response has been focused on the fundamental studies and clinical application of immunological mechanisms for treatment of malignant diseases.

Cytotoxic Effect of Murine T-cells with TcRalpha/beta+,CD3intermediate+, CD4-/8- DN Phenotype and the Establishment of Monoclonal Antibodies

Murine tumors developed quite frequently in some of the visceral organs, including spleen and liver, in BALB/c nude mice after subcutaneously xenografting surgical specimens from five different inflammatory breast cancer patients. These five tumors expressed early T lymphocyte markers showing TcRalpha/beta+, CD3intermediate+, CD4-/CD8- double-negative phenotypes. The studies of in vitro cytotoxic effects on several target cells revealed that these T-cells have spontaneous natural killer (NK) cell activity. These cells are also capable of being excellent cytotoxic effector cells in vivo against autochthonous methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcomas for either tumor prevention or treatment of developed tumors. By immunization with these T-cells, monoclonal antibodies which recognize the TNK subset in the liver have been newly developed and these antibodies will be a powerful tool for further studying the cytotoxic features of the TNK subset.(192)

Diagnostic Significance of Serum Levels of the TRX in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)

An ELISA system for measuring serum levels of TRX was established. The serum level of TRX in healthy volunteers was 88.9+-35.8 ng/ml. Among most liver cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis (LC/CH) patients who were infected with hepatitis viruses, the serum level of TRX in those without HCC was 90.6+-45.6 ng/ml, which was not statistically different from that in normal volunteers. In contrast, the serum level of TRX in patients with HCC was 163.1+-106.8 ng/ml, which was significantly higher than the level not only in normal volunteers but also in LC/CH patients without HCC. No correlation was found between the serum TRX level and the serum alpha-fetoprotein level. However, four patients in whom the serum alpha-fetoprotein level was not high showed high levels of serum TRX, suggesting that measurement of serum TRX is useful as a tumor marker for patients with HCC.

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