Increased expansion of Vα24+ T cells derived from G‐CSF‐mobilized peripheral blood stem cells as compared to peripheral blood mononuclear cells following α‐galactosylceramide stimulation

In the present study, unpurified peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from various sources, including steady‐state blood (normal donors) and granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF)‐mobilized blood (cancer patients and normal donors) (G‐PBSC), were cultured in RPMI‐1640 in the presence of IL‐2 and α‐galactosylceramide (α‐GalCer) to expand Vα24+ T cells, and their expansion kinetics were compared. G‐CSF‐mobilized cells showed markedly higher expansion potential (350‐fold expansion of Vα24+ T cells, regardless of whether the cells were from cancer patients or normal donors) than steady‐state cells (15‐fold expansion, compared to the initial inoculums) (n=5, P