New method launched to expand mouse T cells from Dynal
treatments will be made easier after an innovative new method to
expand mouse T cells without autologous antigen-presenting cells
and antigen was launched by Dynal Biotech.
The technology is particularly suitable for drug discovery relating to new peptide antigens for T cell immunotherapy or vaccine development. It is also suitable for assay development strategies for functional testing of cytotoxic T cells. Expanded T cells can also be used to study the effect of pharmacological drugs on immune function.
Researchers begin work with mouse models before progressing to human disease models, including the study of infectious diseases, autoimmunity and cancer. Expanded mouse T cells are manipulated in vitro or used for adoptive transfer in vivo.
This new product complements another Dynal product, the Dynabeads CD3/CD28 T Cell Expander, for expanding human cells, bridging the gap from mouse to human models without having to worry about maintaining APCs in culture.
The product provides numerous advantages over conventional methods including the absence negative signalling through CTLA4, no MNC/feeder cell contamination or maintenance, bead and antibody-free and the retaining of antigen specificity and cytotoxicity of the expanded cells.
Erik Ruud, product manager for Dynal Biotech Immunosystems told DrugResearcher.com: "We identified a gap in the market for T cell expansion when we decided to develop these artificial antigen presenting cells."
Until now, expanding naïve and antigen-specific mouse CD4+ and CD8+ T cells has involved tedious and unreliable extraction and maintenance of antigen presenting cell (APC) cultures.
Dynabeads Mouse CD3/CD28 T Cell Expander offers the first ready-to-use system to provide simultaneous signals to TCR/CD3 and CD28 for full activation and expansion of mouse T cells in culture. This mimics in vivo stimulation of T cells by APCs.
Rudd added: "The mouse T cell expander products are for research use only and are primarily aimed at industrial customers including pharma, vaccine development and biotech companies."
The Dynabeads are coupled with antibodies against CD3 and CD28 in optimised ratios to imitate in vivo stimulation by antigen-presenting cells. The antibodies are covalently coupled onto cell-sized beads, giving a stable product with consistent stimulation and expansion capabilities.
"Dynabeads Mouse CD3/CD28 T Cell Expander is the first artificial antigen presenting cell product on the market for expansion of mouse T cells. There are currently no other products on the market for consistent stimulation and expansion of T cells," Rudd said.
He added: "Conventional methods include co-culture of T cells with antigen presenting cells and antigen, which is a tedious and often unreliable method."
The mouse and human expander products are available now from Dynal Biotech and its subsidiaries. Prices are available on request.
