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<abstract xmlns="http://eprints.org/ep2/data/2.0">Immunotherapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has yielded some clinical responses. However this approach frequently fails, possibly due to inefficient migration of T-cells to tumour tissue or immunosuppressive mechanisms within the tumour environment. To aid development of T-cell therapy for RCC I investigated how T-cells are recruited to this tumour, which T-cell subsets infiltrate, and how they function.  &#13;
Analysis of the expression of all 19 chemokine receptors on matched TIL and PBMC demonstrated that CCR5, CXCR3 and CXCR6 were expressed at significantly higher levels on tumour-infiltrating T-cells than memory T-cells in PBMC, suggesting a role for these receptors in recruitment to RCC. Immunohistochemistry showed the corresponding ligands were present in RCC, and transwell assays confirmed the ligands induce migration of TIL. I demonstrated Foxp3\(^+\)CD25\(^{hi}\)CD127\(^{low}\) Tregs were enriched within the tumour, and also expressed high levels of CCR5, CXCR3 and CXCR6, as well as CCR6. They lacked expression of IL-2 and IFN-\(\gamma\) post-stimulation, consistent with a regulatory phenotype. Functional characterisation of Foxp3\(^-\) TIL demonstrated they can function ex vivo, however their high expression of the inhibitory molecule PD-1 may indicate exhaustion in vivo. Double positive CD4\(^+\)CD8\(^+\) T-cells were also enriched in TIL and had a similar functional profile to CD8 T-cells. </abstract>
