The antitumor efficacy of the EpCAM peptide-pulsed, DC-induced CTLs in HepG2 tumor-bearing mice.

(A) The experimental setup and showing the injection schedule for the tumor-associated antigen-pulsed, DC-induced CTLs. (B) Inhibition of tumor growth analysis. Tumor-bearing BALB/c nude mice were treated with intravenous injections of Pep-CTLs (EpCAM peptide stimulated DC-CTLs), TL-CTLs (HepG2 cell lysate stimulated DC-CTLs), DC-CTLs and T cells on days 10 and 17 after tumor implantation. (C) EpCAM⁺ HepG2-specific cytotoxicity. Lymphocytes were isolated from the Pep-CTL-, TL-CTL-, DC-CTL- or T cell-treated mice on day 14 post-inoculation. (D) Immunohistochemistry with anti-EpCAM antibodies in HepG2 tumor tissue. Tumor regions of a section from a tumor isolated on day 24 after tumor implantation. Original magnification, 200×. The data are expressed as the mean±SD, and significant differences between the treated groups were detected using ANOVA followed by the Dunnett’s test. ^#P<0.05 compared with the DC-CTLs, and * p<0.05 compared with the TL-CTLs.