[Frontiers in Bioscience E2, 1520-1527, June 1, 2010]

Pluripotent stem cell-derived dendritic cells for immunotherapy

Satoru Senju1,2,3, Yusuke Matsunaga1,2, Satoshi Fukushima1,2, Shinya Hirata1, Hidetake Matsuyoshi1, Yasuharu Nishimura1

1The Department of Immunogenetics, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan,2Japan Science and Technology Agency, CREST, Tokyo, Japan, 3iPS Cell Research Laboratory, Division of Stem Cell Research, Institute of Embryology and Genetics, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Physiological functions and medical application of dendritic cells
3. Generation of dendritic cells from mouse ES cells
4. Mouse studies on the induction of anti-cancer immunity by genetically engineered ES-DC
5. Studies on the treatment of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by ES-DC
6. Generation of DC from human es cells
7. Generation of DC from ips cells
8. Summary
9. References

1. ABSTRACT

Dendritic cell (DC) is regarded as a powerful means for anti-cancer immunotherapy. Clinical trials of cancer therapy with DC loaded with cancer antigens, such as tumor cell-lysates or HLA class I-binding antigenic peptides, have been conducted. Antigen-specific negative manipulation of the immune response by DC is a potential treatment for autoimmune diseases and also for control of allo-reactive immune responses in transplantation medicine. Currently, DC for clinical use are generated from peripheral blood monocytes of the patients. However, the number of monocytes obtained from the patients is limited and the potential of monocytes to differentiate into DC varies depending on the blood donor. Thus, the issue of limited cells is a serious obstacle for DC therapy. ES cells and iPS cells have pluripotency and unlimited propagation capacity and may be an ideal cell source for DC-therapy. Several groups, including us, have developed methods to generate DC from ES cells or iPS cells. This review introduces the studies on generation, characterization, and genetic modification of DC derived from ES cells or iPS cells.