Objective      To investigate the effects of dendritic cells infected with adenovirus vector encoding DeltaNp73α on breaking the immune tolerance and inducing immunity against DeltaNp73α-overexpressing tumor.       Methods      Immature dendritic cells generated in the presence of interleukin-4 and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor from human umbilical cord blood were transfected with recombinant adenovirus vector encoding full-length human DeltaNp73α cDNA by centrifugal force method. Viability and activation status of DCs after transfection were assessed by flow cytometric analysis

and induction of DeltaNp73α-specific CTL response was also evaluated by the cytotoxic assay against DeltaNp73α-overexpressing human tumor cells.       Results      DeltaNp73α expression in the transfected DCs was confirmed by Western blotting. DeltaNp73α enhanced DCs survival. A significant DeltaNp73α-specific CTL-stimulatory ability were observed in the DeltaNp73α-overexpressing cell lines

A549/DeltaNp73α and K-562.       Conclusion      DeltaNp73α enhances the survival of dendritic cells. Adenovirus vector-mediated DeltaNp73α-transfected DCs can effectively induce strong antigen-specific T cell response.