# IMMUNE MECHANISM IN THE GENERATION OF TUMOR VARIANTS

> **NIH NIH R01** · ROSWELL PARK CANCER INSTITUTE · 1987 · $131,883

## Abstract

Little is known about the immunological mechanisms that lead to generation
of phenotypic variants of tumor cells during their natural progression in a
tumor-bearing host.  Using a homogeneous population of an antigen-specific
murine B-cell tumor, 2C3E1, we have observed that stable idiotype-negative
variants of 2C3E1, which express a private idiotype on its surface, are
found in the spleens of BALB/c mice bearing this tumor.  We have developed
a method to monitor generation of these somatic variants in vitro and to
study the mechanisms that lead to suppression of the tumor-specific surface
marker (idiotype) of this homogeneous B-cell hybrid tumor model.
Preliminary experiments suggest that idiotype-specific mature T cells cause
a marked and irreversible suppression of the idiotypic expression of
2C3E1.  It is anticipated that this model will permit us to study the
mechanisms leading to tumor cell heterogeneity and will help in the design
of effective therapeutic modalities.

The goal of the proposed research is to study immunoregulatory events
associated with the generation of phenotypic heterogeneity of the B-cell
line, 2C3E1.  Experiments described in this proposal will determine the
requirements for the induction of idiotype-binding T cells (such as
MHC-linked associative recognition and the role of surface idiotype) and
T-cell effector mechanisms.  Selective elimination of the idiotype-binding
T cells will be done to determine if such elimination prevents generation
of the variants.  It is expected that the information derived from our
proposed studies with the neoplastic B-cell tumor model will provide a
better understanding of the physiologically relevant mechanism by which T
cells recognize and thereby cause the generation of somatic variants during
the growth of a tumor.  (SR)

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3178625
- **Project number:** 5R01CA039536-03
- **Recipient organization:** ROSWELL PARK CANCER INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** SWAPAN K GHOSH
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1987
- **Award amount:** $131,883
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1985-07-01 → 1989-01-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3178625

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3178625, IMMUNE MECHANISM IN THE GENERATION OF TUMOR VARIANTS (5R01CA039536-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3178625. Licensed CC0.

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