Recently, some studies have indicated that Rsf-1/HBXAP plays a role in chromatin remodeling and transcriptional regulation that may contribute to tumorigenesis in ovarian cancer The present study demonstrates that using dendritic cells (DCs) from human cord blood CD34(+) cells transduced with Rsf-1/HBXAP DNA plasmids by nucleofection generate specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) against ovarian cancer in vitro. After transfection, DCs were analyzed for Rsf-1/HBXAP mRNA expression by RT-PCR and protein expression by Western blot Then the DC phenotypes, T-cell stimulatory capacity. endocytic activity and migration capacity were explored by flow cytometry analysis, allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction, endocytosis and transwell chemotaxis assay, respectively After transfection, Rsf-1/HBXAP expression was detected at mRNA and protein levels Allogeneic T-cell proliferation induced by transfected DCs was obviously higher than non-transfected DCs, but the endocytosis capacity and migratory ability were not different Rsf-1/HBXAP gene-transduced DCs could induce antigen-specific CTL and generate a very potent cytotoxicity to OVCAR3 cells These data suggest that Rsf-1/HBXAP gene-transduced DCs may be a potential adjuvant immunotherapy for ovarian cancer in clinical applications (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.