Compositions and Methods for Enhancing Dendritic Cell Resistance to Bacterial Infection and for Enhancing the Mobility of Dendritic Cells for Dendritic Cell-Based Immunotherapy

A method for the treatment of cancer in a patient in need thereof, comprising

• a) incubating the cells of a) with a tumor antigen of interest;
• b) providing dentritic cells expressing elevated levels of fascin 1;
• c) reinfusing the cells of b) into said patient, thereby provoking a cytotoxic T cell response to cancer cells expressing the antigen of step a, said cytotoxic response causing a reduction in tumor cell burden.

A method for the treatment of bacterial or viral infection in a patient in need thereof, comprising

• a) incubating the cells with a bacterial or viral antigen of interest;
• b) providing dentritic cells expressing elevated levels of fascin 1;
• c) reinfusing the cells of b) into said patient, thereby provoking a cytotoxic T cell response to infected cells expressing the antigen of step b, said cytotoxic response causing a reduction in infected cell numbers.

A method for identifying agents which modulate fascin1 mediated resistance to Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in dendritic cells, comprising:

• a) providing wild type and fascin1 KO DCs infected with Lm;
• b) incubating the DCs of step a) in the presence and absence of a test agent;
• c) determining replication rate of said Lm in the cells of step b) and identifying agents which differentially alter said rate in fascin 1 KO DCs when compared to wild type DCs.