GM-CSF and IL-2 induce specific cellular immunity and provide protection against Epstein-Barr virus lymphoproliferative disorder

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Abstract

Epstein-Barr virus–associated lymphoproliferative disease (EBV-LPD) is a potentially life-threatening complication in immune-deficient patients. We have used the severe combined immune deficient (SCID) mouse engrafted with human leukocytes (hu-PBL-SCID) to evaluate the use of human cytokines in the prevention of EBV-LPD in vivo. Daily low-dose IL-2 therapy can prevent EBV-LPD in the hu-PBL-SCID mouse, but protection is lost if murine natural killer (NK) cells are depleted. Here we demonstrate that combined therapy with human GM-CSF and low-dose IL-2 is capable of preventing EBV-LPD in the hu-PBL-SCID mouse in the absence of murine NK cells. Lymphocyte depletion experiments showed that human NK cells, CD8+ T cells, and monocytes were each required for the protective effects of GM-CSF and IL-2 combination therapy. This treatment resulted in a marked expansion of human CD3+CD8+ lymphocytes in vivo. Using HLA tetramers complexed with EBV immunodominant peptides, a subset of these lymphocytes was found to be EBV-specific. These data establish that combined GM-CSF and low-dose IL-2 therapy can prevent the immune deficiencies that lead to fatal EBV-LPD in the hu-PBL-SCID mouse depleted of murine NK cells, and they point to a critical role for several human cellular subsets in mediating this protective effect.

Authors

Robert A. Baiocchi, Jacqueline S. Ward, Lester Carrodeguas, Charles F. Eisenbeis, Ruoqi Peng, Sameek Roychowdhury, Srinivas Vourganti, Taryn Sekula, Maggie O’Brien, Melvin Moeschberger, Michael A. Caligiuri