Cytolytic effects of autologous lymphokine-activated killer cells on organotypic multicellular spheroids of gliomas in vitro.

Knowledge about lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell infiltration and LAK cell cytotoxicity is essential to improve the effectiveness of LAK cell therapy against gliomas. In the present study, organotypic multicellular spheroids (OMS) of glioma tissue were used as a culture model to study the effects of LAK cells on gliomas. Compared to tumour cell lines and spheroids derived from tumour cell lines, OMS have several advantages with respect to preservation of tumour cell heterogeneity and the maintenance of the tumour architecture, e.g. capillaries and extracellular matrix. Four glioma specimens, obtained at surgery, were cultured directly on agarose to form OMS, which were then co-cultured with either autologous LAK cells or autologous non-activated peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). After various time periods of co-cultivation, the OMS were fixed and examined both histologically and immunocytochemically. The present results showed that LAK cells infiltrated the OMS completely within 24 h of co-cultivation and severe cellular damage was observed, whereas PBLs infiltrated the OMS poorly and there was only marginal cellular damage. The present study indicates that OMS of gliomas provide an experimental model to investigate the infiltration and cytotoxicity of LAK cells on glioma tissue in vitro.