CD8+ cytotoxic T (Tc) cells play a crucial role in host immune responses to
cancer, and in this context, adoptive CD8+ Tc
cell therapy has been studied in numerous animal
tumor models. Its antitumor efficacy is, to a large extent, determined by the ability of Tc cells to survive and infiltrate
tumors. In clinical trials, such in vitro-activated T cells often die within hours to days, and this greatly limits their therapeutic efficacy. CD8+ Tc cells fall into two subpopulations based upon their differential
cytokine secretion. In this study, we in vitro generated that
ovalbumin (OVA)-pulsed dendritic cell (DCOVA)-activated CD8+ type 1 Tc (Tc1) cells secreting IFN-gamma, and CD8+ type 2 Tc (Tc2) cells secreting
IL-4,
IL-5 and
IL-10, which were derived from OVA-specific
T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic OT I mice. We then systemically investigated the in vitro and in vivo effector function and survival of Tc1 and Tc2 cells, and then assessed their survival kinetics after adoptively transferred into C57BL/6 mice, respectively. We demonstrated that, when compared to CD8+ Tc2, Tc1 cells were significantly more effective in
perforin-mediated cytotoxicity to
tumor cells, had a significantly higher capacity for in vivo survival after the adoptive T cell transfer, and had a significantly stronger
therapeutic effect on eradication of well-established
tumors expressing OVA in animal models. In addition, CD8+ Tc1 and Tc2 cells skewed the phenotype of CD4+ T cells toward Th1 and Th2 type, respectively. Therefore, the information regarding the differential effector function, survival and immune modulation of CD8+ Tc1 and Tc2 cells may provide useful information when preparing in vitro DC-activated CD8+ T cells for adoptive T cell
therapy of
cancer.