Building better dendritic cells for cancer vaccination.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen presenting cells distinctively capable of initiating primary immune responses. Due to their influential role in the immune system, DCs are being developed as immunotherapies for cancer. However, their low abundance in blood and tissues requires ex vivo preparation from more abundant cells. The generation of monocyte–derived DCs requires maturation in the presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines and prostaglandin E2 (PGE₂). PGE₂ induces DC migration, but interferes with their immunostimulatory capacity. Dr. Scott Pruitt, at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC and colleagues demonstrated that like PGE₂, leukotriene C4 (LTC₄) potently mediates DC migration, but additionally stimulates CD4+ T-cell responses and induces antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, without induction or recruitment of regulatory T cells (Dannull et al (2012) Blood 119(13):3113-22). Mobilization of intracellular calcium, as measured using Enzo’s FluoForte calcium assay, was observed for DCs that were stimulated with CD40L and LTD4, but not upon treatment with CD40L and LTC₄, indicating LTC4 does not signal through CysLTR1, thus preserving immunostimulatory capacity. The novel DC maturation protocol could someday lead to enhanced immunogenicity of DC-based cancer vaccines.

Enzo Life Sciences offers comprehensive reagents and kits for the in vitro generation of dendritic cells and their subsequent functional phenotypic characterization. Representative products are summarized below:

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