Aminobisphosphonates, a class of drugs used to treat certain bone diseases, that inhibit farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase, and cause accumulation of endogenous upstream metabolites such as isopentenylpyrophosphate (IPP) [16]. Vc9Vd2 T cells may indirectly contribute to the immune defense against cancer cells, by producing cytokines typical of Th1, Th2 or Th17 cells [17?9], or cross-talking with dendritic cells [20], macrophages [21] and B cells [22?4]. Additionally, Vc9Vd2 T cells perform direct potentChemotherapy Potentiates cd T Cell Cytotoxicitycytotoxic activity toward cancer cells, which is mediated in much the same manner as for CD8 T cells 15481974 and NK cells, through perforin/granzyme, Fas/FasL, TNF/TNF-R and TRAILTRAIL-R pathways [10]. In this study, we have assessed the potential synergy of combining chemotherapy and Vc9Vd2 T cell-mediated cytotoxicity for anti-tumor therapy. Specifically, as colon CICs are resistant to both chemotherapeutic drugs and to Vc9Vd2 T cellmediated cytotoxicity, we have determined whether chemotherapy can be used to sensitize colon CIC targets to Vc9Vd2 T cell cytotoxicity, based on three lines of evidence: (1) pioneering work by Mattarollo and colleagues [25] has demonstrated high levels of cytotoxicity against solid tumor-derived cell lines with combination treatment utilizing Vc9Vd2 T cells and chemotherapeutic agents; (2) IL-17-producing cd T cells play a decisive role in chemotherapy-induced anti-cancer immune responses in the mouse [26]; (3) treatment of colon CICs with the bisphosphonate zoledronate enhances their sensitivity to Vc9Vd2 T cell killing [27]. We show here that chemotherapeutic drugs currently used for treatment of colon cancer patients, 5-fluorouracyl and doxorubicin, are capable to sensitize colon CICs to Vc9Vd2 T cellmediated killing and we demonstrate that the underlying mechanisms involve NKG2D and TRAIL.Chemotherapy Sensitizes Colon CICs to Vc9Vd2 T Cell CytotoxicityIn analogy to their resistance to chemotherapy, the five tested colon CIC lines, were also resistant to Vc9Vd2 T cell-mediated cytotoxicity, even when an E:T ratio of 50:1 was used (Figure 2A). The poor cytotoxic activity against colon CICs was not an Anlotinib web intrinsic feature of the Vc9Vd2 T cells, because the differentiated colon cancer cell lines DLD-1, SW620, SW403, CDC#3 and CDC#4 were efficiently killed by two Vc9Vd2 T cell lines COLD2-1 and COLD2-2 obtained from two different colon cancer patients (P#3 and P#4) (Figure 2A), as well as Vc9Vd2 T cell lines obtained from healthy subjects (data not shown). As a BTZ-043 biological activity control, all the tested Vc9Vd2 T cell lines failed to kill the normal colon cell line CCL-241 (Figure 2A). In previous studies, we have demonstrated that zoledronate sensitizes colon cancer CICs to Vc9Vd2 T cell cytotoxicity [27]. The capability of Vc9Vd2 T cells to kill colon cancer CICs was then assessed after treatment of the targets with chemotherapy. Representative results obtained with three different CIC lines (CIC#2, CIC#4 and CIC#5) are shown in Figure 2B. Vc9Vd2 T cell cytotoxicity was enhanced in all cases by pretreatment of target CICs with chemotherapy. In detail, almost complete lysis of CIC lines resulted from the combination of the highest doses of 5-FU (250 mg/ml) or DXR (2.5 mM) and Vc9Vd2 T cells, with cell death percentages over 90 at an E:T ratio of 20:1. Treatment of targets with lower doses chemotherapy (2.5 and 25 mg/ml 5-FU and 0.025 and 0.25 mM DXR) resulted in enhanced killing of CIC lines.Aminobisphosphonates, a class of drugs used to treat certain bone diseases, that inhibit farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase, and cause accumulation of endogenous upstream metabolites such as isopentenylpyrophosphate (IPP) [16]. Vc9Vd2 T cells may indirectly contribute to the immune defense against cancer cells, by producing cytokines typical of Th1, Th2 or Th17 cells [17?9], or cross-talking with dendritic cells [20], macrophages [21] and B cells [22?4]. Additionally, Vc9Vd2 T cells perform direct potentChemotherapy Potentiates cd T Cell Cytotoxicitycytotoxic activity toward cancer cells, which is mediated in much the same manner as for CD8 T cells 15481974 and NK cells, through perforin/granzyme, Fas/FasL, TNF/TNF-R and TRAILTRAIL-R pathways [10]. In this study, we have assessed the potential synergy of combining chemotherapy and Vc9Vd2 T cell-mediated cytotoxicity for anti-tumor therapy. Specifically, as colon CICs are resistant to both chemotherapeutic drugs and to Vc9Vd2 T cellmediated cytotoxicity, we have determined whether chemotherapy can be used to sensitize colon CIC targets to Vc9Vd2 T cell cytotoxicity, based on three lines of evidence: (1) pioneering work by Mattarollo and colleagues [25] has demonstrated high levels of cytotoxicity against solid tumor-derived cell lines with combination treatment utilizing Vc9Vd2 T cells and chemotherapeutic agents; (2) IL-17-producing cd T cells play a decisive role in chemotherapy-induced anti-cancer immune responses in the mouse [26]; (3) treatment of colon CICs with the bisphosphonate zoledronate enhances their sensitivity to Vc9Vd2 T cell killing [27]. We show here that chemotherapeutic drugs currently used for treatment of colon cancer patients, 5-fluorouracyl and doxorubicin, are capable to sensitize colon CICs to Vc9Vd2 T cellmediated killing and we demonstrate that the underlying mechanisms involve NKG2D and TRAIL.Chemotherapy Sensitizes Colon CICs to Vc9Vd2 T Cell CytotoxicityIn analogy to their resistance to chemotherapy, the five tested colon CIC lines, were also resistant to Vc9Vd2 T cell-mediated cytotoxicity, even when an E:T ratio of 50:1 was used (Figure 2A). The poor cytotoxic activity against colon CICs was not an intrinsic feature of the Vc9Vd2 T cells, because the differentiated colon cancer cell lines DLD-1, SW620, SW403, CDC#3 and CDC#4 were efficiently killed by two Vc9Vd2 T cell lines COLD2-1 and COLD2-2 obtained from two different colon cancer patients (P#3 and P#4) (Figure 2A), as well as Vc9Vd2 T cell lines obtained from healthy subjects (data not shown). As a control, all the tested Vc9Vd2 T cell lines failed to kill the normal colon cell line CCL-241 (Figure 2A). In previous studies, we have demonstrated that zoledronate sensitizes colon cancer CICs to Vc9Vd2 T cell cytotoxicity [27]. The capability of Vc9Vd2 T cells to kill colon cancer CICs was then assessed after treatment of the targets with chemotherapy. Representative results obtained with three different CIC lines (CIC#2, CIC#4 and CIC#5) are shown in Figure 2B. Vc9Vd2 T cell cytotoxicity was enhanced in all cases by pretreatment of target CICs with chemotherapy. In detail, almost complete lysis of CIC lines resulted from the combination of the highest doses of 5-FU (250 mg/ml) or DXR (2.5 mM) and Vc9Vd2 T cells, with cell death percentages over 90 at an E:T ratio of 20:1. Treatment of targets with lower doses chemotherapy (2.5 and 25 mg/ml 5-FU and 0.025 and 0.25 mM DXR) resulted in enhanced killing of CIC lines.