Maturation of dendritic cells by recombinant heat shock protein 70 (hsp70)

摘要

This invention relates to an ex vivo method for inducing the TNF-α free differentiation of immature dendritic cells into mature dendritic cells as well as an ex vivo method for generating said mature dendritic cells. The induction of the differentiation of immature dendritic cells into mature dendritic cells is accomplished by using an effective amount of heat shock proteins of the hsp70 family or a biologically active part thereof. The invention further relates to mature dendritic cells otainable by said ex vivo method. Furthermore, the invention is directed to therapeutic compositions comprising an effective amount of heat shock proteins of the hsp70 family or of said mature dendritic cells as well as their use in the immunotherapy of neoplastic diseases.