Patent ID: 8518697

Claim:
A method of expanding a population of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells ex vivo, the method comprising: establishing a first culture comprising a population of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells, a first population of antigen presenting cells comprising an MHC antigen peptide and a culture medium comprising IL-7; co-culturing the first culture for no greater than 14 days, wherein IL-2 is added to the first culture every 2-4 days; and subsequently establishing a second culture comprising the population of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells, a population of cells comprising a single chain trimer and a culture medium comprising IL-2; co-culturing the second culture for about 14 days, wherein the single chain trimer comprises, in amino-to-carboxy terminal order, a segment comprising the sequence of the MHC antigen peptide, a segment comprising a human β2-microglobulin sequence, and a segment comprising a human MHC class I heavy chain sequence.