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The 11 th International Workshop on KSHV & Related Agents, Birmingham, UK
Poster Session Abstract P4
STUDIES ON THE ROLE OF MICROENVIRONMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
PRIMARY EFFUSION LYMPHOMA
Calabrò ML, 1 Gasperini P, 2 Di Gangi IM, 1 Indraccolo S, 1 Amadori A, 1 Chieco-Bianchi L. 2
1 Immunology and Diagnostic Molecular Oncology, Istituto Oncologico Veneto, IRCCS,
Padova; 2 Department of Oncology and Surgical Sciences, Oncology Section, University of
Padova, Italy.
Abstract
We used a SCID mouse model of primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) that mimics the
aggressive course of this human KSHV-induced lymphoma to dissect the contribution of
the host microenvironment in PEL development. The activity of a murine, i.e. hostspecific,
interferon (IFN)-α1-expressing lentiviral vector (mIFN-α1-LV) was compared to
that of a hIFN-α2b-LV on the in vitro and in vivo growth of PEL cells. A control EGFP-LV
was used in parallel. Lentiviral vectors efficiently delivered the transgene to PEL cells and
conferred long-term transgene expression both in vitro and in vivo. Treatment of PELinjected
SCID mice with hIFN-α2b-LV was found to significantly prolong the survival in
the majority of animals compared to control treatments, and was associated with a
remarkable reduction in ascites formation. Interestingly, the delivery of a host-specific
cytokine showed an anti-neoplastic activity comparable to that observed with the hIFNα2b-LV,
thus suggesting that the specific targeting of the host microenvironment may
impair PEL cell growth in vivo.
Presenting author Email: lcalabro@unipd.it
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