We accordingly analyzed human monocyte-derived DCs for their ability to: (a) take up apoptotic leukemia cells and express transfected mRNA, (b) express a mature phenotype following tumour-antigen capture and culture in maturation cocktail and (c) prime un-fractionated T cells as well as the CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets. Here, CD8A is linked to leukemia.