Abstract
Human invariant Vα24^+^ natural killer T (NKT) cells display potent antitumor activity upon stimulation. Activation of endogenous Vα24^+^ NKT cells would be one strategy for the treatment of cancer patients. For example, dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with a glycolipid NKT cell ligand, α‐galactosylceramide (αGalCer, KRN7000), are a possible tool for the activation and expansion of functional Vα24^+^ NKT cells in vivo. In this report, we demonstrate that the levels of expansion and the ability to produce IFN‐γ of Vα24^+^ NKT cells induced by αGalCer‐loaded whole PBMCs cultured with IL‐2 and GM‐CSF (IL‐2/GM‐CSF‐cultured PBMCs) were superior to those of cells induced by monocyte‐derived CD11c^+^ DCs (moDCs) developed with IL‐4 and GM‐CSF. Interestingly, CD11c^+^ cells in the IL‐2/GM‐CSF‐cultured PBMCs showed a mature phenotype without further stimulation and exerted potent stimulatory activity on Vα24^+^ NKT cells to enable them to produce IFN‐γ preferentially at an extent equivalent to mature moDCs induced by stimulation with LPS or a cytokine cocktail. Cocultivation with CD11c^−^ cells in the IL‐2/GM‐CSF‐cultured PBMCs induced maturation of moDCs. In particular, CD11c^−^CD3^+^ T cells appeared to play important roles in DC maturation. In addition, TNF‐α was preferentially produced by CD11c^−^CD3^+^ T cells in IL‐2/GM‐CSF‐cultured PBMCs and was involved in the maturation of moDCs. Thus, the maturation of DCs induced by CD11c^−^ T cells through TNF‐α production appears to result in the efficient expansion and activation of Vα24^+^ NKT cells to produce IFN‐γ preferentially. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.