Then, the cells were cultured in 30 wells of 96-well round-bottomed plates (Corning Inc., Corning, NY) at a density of 2 × 105 cells per well in 150 μl of complete RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 2 mm l-glutamine, 20 μm 2-mercaptoethanol,

sodium pyruvate, non-essential amino acids, 100 IU/ml penicillin and 100 μg/ml streptomycin, 10 mm HEPES (all from Lonza, Verviers, Belgium), and 5% inactivated human AB serum (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, MO) together with p143–160 of Equ c 1 (10 μg/ml) at + 37°C. On day 5, 50 μl of fresh medium was added together with recombinant human IL-2 (rIL-2, final concentration 10 IU/ml; Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Opaganib cost Germany). On day 10, the cells were restimulated with p143–160 along with 1·5 × 105 γ-irradiated (3000 rads) autologous PBMCs as RAD001 cost antigen-presenting

cells (APCs) and rIL-2 (10 IU/ml) in a total volume of 150 μl. On day 15, 50 μl of fresh medium was added together with rIL-2 (final concentration 10 IU/ml). Finally, on day 20, the wells were split to create two replicate plates by transferring 50 μl of cell suspension per well to new 96-well daughter plates. Cultures in one of the daughter plates were stimulated with Equ c 1143–160 (10 μg/ml) and the other served as a control plate. Proliferation was measured, as described below. Positive cultures (stimulation index > 2) were transferred onto a 48-well plate and restimulated with Equ c 1143–160 (10 μg/ml) and rIL-2 (25 IU/ml) in the presence of 106 γ-irradiated autologous PBMCs as APCs. The cell lines were incubated for 14 days and supplemented with fresh medium and rIL-2 (25 IU/ml) every

2–3 days before analyses. The T-cell proliferation assays were set up in triplicates on 96-well round-bottomed plates with 2·5 × 104 T cells and 5 × 104 autologous PBMCs together with the Equ c 1 peptide p143–160 (10 μg/ml) and rEqu c 1 (100 μg/ml). The plates were then incubated for 3 days at ADP ribosylation factor +37°C, after which the cells were pulsed for 16 hr with 1·0 μCi of [3H]thymidine (GE Healthcare, Little Chalfont, UK) per well and harvested onto glass-fibre filters (Wallac, Turku, Finland). Thymidine incorporation was then measured by scintillation counting (MicroBeta Trilux 1450, Wallac), and the results were displayed as mean counts per minute (CPM) or as stimulation indices (SI; CPM of a stimulated culture divided by CPM of an unstimulated culture). The HLA restriction of the p143–160-specific TCLs was studied by inhibiting the proliferative response to p143–160 with monoclonal antibodies (1 μg/ml) to HLA-DR (clone L243) and HLA-DQ (clone SPVL3), as described previously.[14] A response with at least a 50% inhibition to p143–160 was considered significant. In addition, allogeneic, partially HLA-matched PBMCs from a person expressing only one shared allele with the subject from whom the TCL was derived were used in proliferation assays.