IL-15 enhances the antitumor effect of human antigen-specific CD8⁺T cells by cellular senescence delay

Abstract

Optimal expansion protocols for adoptive human T-cell therapy often include interleukin (IL)-15; however, the mechanism by which IL-15 improves the <i>in vivo</i> antitumor effect of T cells remains to be elucidated. Using human T cells generated from HLA-A2+ donors against novel T-cell epitopes derived from the human U266 myeloma cell line Ig light chain V-region (idiotype) as a model, we found that T cells cultured with IL-15 provided superior resistance to tumor growth <i>in vivo</i>, compared with IL-2, after adoptive transfer into immunodeficient hosts. This effect of IL-15 was associated with delayed/reversed senescence in tumor antigen-specific memory CD8⁺ T cells mediated through downregulation of P21^WAF1, P16^INK4a, and P53 expression. Compared to IL-2, IL-15 stimulation dramatically activated JAK3-STAT5 signaling and inhibited the expression of DNA damage genes. Thus, our study elucidates a new mechanism for IL-15 in the regulation of STAT signaling pathways and CD8⁺ T-cell senescence.