Cytotoxic activity and T cell receptor repertoire in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes of adrenal cell carcinomas

The cytotoxic activity and T cell receptor (TCR) Vβ repertoire in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) of three primary adrenal cell carcinomas were analyzed. Fresh, non-cultured TIL from two of the three tumors showed low but significant lysis of the autologous tumor, and for one of the patients this activity was strongly enhanced upon culture in interleukin-2. An allogeneic adrenal cell carcinoma line and the K562 or Daudi targets included as controls were not killed. Phenotypic analysis of freshly isolated TIL demonstrated that the cells from the two patients that demonstrated cytolytic capacity mainly consisted of CD45RO⁺ T cells. In vitro cultured TIL lines from these patients demonstrated a high percentage of CD8⁺ cells expressing either the Vβ6 gene or the Vβ8 gene product, as measured with a panel of mAb specific for TCR Vα and Vβ gene products. Analysis of the TCR Vβ gene mRNA expression in freshly isolated non-cultured TIL, using a polymerase-chain-reaction-assisted cDNA-amplification assay, confirmed the strong expression of the genes coding for the TCR Vβ6 or the Vβ8. This assay also demonstrated a more restricted TCR Vβ gene usage in the TIL as compared to peripheral blood lymphocytes from the same patient.