In vitro co-stimulation of anti-tumor activity by soluble B7 molecules.

In order to investigate the anti-tumor activity of a soluble B7-1/immunoglobulin G fusion protein and explore an effective method to eliminate immune escape of tumor cells, a recombinant vector encoding this fusion protein was constructed and constitutively expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. After purification with protein G affinity chromatography, the soluble fusion protein was tested for bioactivity. Results showed that the fusion protein could significantly increase the density of B7-1 molecules on WEHI-3 cells, a mouse leukemia cell line. Through allogeneic mixed lymphocyte tumor cultures, it was demonstrated that, with the presence of the first signal, it could also significantly enhance T cell activation and killing activity against WEHI-3 cells and interleukin-2 secretion by activated mouse T lymphocytes. The conclusion can be drawn that the soluble B7-IgG fusion protein has a potent capacity to generate or enhance anti-tumor immune response in vitro, and its clinical value deserves further investigation.