GTOnco™ I-O Assays for In Vitro Study
For gene therapy-based I-O drugs discovery, Creative Biolabs offers a variety of prove-of-concept in vitro assays to test the pharmacological activity. Generally, I-O drugs in gene therapy are able to activate the body's immune system and stimulate the immune cells to target and attack the tumor. On the basis of mechanisms underlining I-O drugs in gene therapy and current studies, we have leveraged the cutting-edge technologies to build a groundbreaking platform for in vitro testing of I-O agents, especially with the immune system activation assays and immune cell-mediated anti-tumor effect study. Multiple assays have been developed and numerous assays kits are also available at GTOnco™ platform.
Gene therapy-based I-O drugs are able to boost the immune response or prevent its attenuation. To this end, several methods have been developed, such as the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) to reverse the inhibition of adaptive immunity, immuno-modulatory cytokines to switch on adaptive immunity, adoptive cell transfer (ACT) and genetically engineered oncolytic viruses (OVs) and cancer vaccines to activate the immune system. The activation of the immune system is usually accompanied by T cell proliferation and activation, and the release of cytokines, such as IL-1, TNF-α, and IL-6, etc.
Figure 1. T-cell activation mechanisms. (Marshall, 2018)
As a world-leading expert in gene therapy-based I-O drug discovery field, we can provide both well-established and custom designed assays that are available at GTOnco™ platform to study the I-O drugs mediated immune system responses, specifically cytokine release and activation of various immune cells.
Contrary to traditional therapies that directly target malignant cells, I-O drugs in gene therapy act by stimulating the body's immune system to target and attack the tumor. Enhancement of effector cells' cancer-killing functions can be achieved by appropriately igniting the immune system with I-O drugs. Immune cells that are thought to contribute directly or indirectly to the demise of tumor cells include the activated natural killer (NK) cells, the subsets of cytotoxic (Tc) and helper (Th) T lymphocytes, macrophages, granulocytes, B cells and dendritic cells (DC). These complex interactions of immune cells should result in tumor cell death.
Figure 2. Immune cell-mediated anti-tumor effect. (Marshall, 2018)
At GTOnco™ platform, we are experienced in a variety of immune cell-mediated cancer cell killing strategies including NK or effector T cells. We also provide a range of in vitro assays service to study the regulation of the tumor microenvironment and immune cell-mediated anti-tumor immune response profiling to support your gene therapy-based I-O drug discovery, which allow you to move with confidence to the next phase of drug development.
Scientists at Creative Biolabs are able to help you design the best-fit assays for customized in vitro studies. We will work closely with our clients to design the optimal protocol for the gene therapy-based immune-oncology drugs development. Contact us for free expert advice to support all of your I-O research needs.
Reference
- Marshall, H. and Djamgoz, M. (2018). Immuno-Oncology: Emerging Targets and Combination Therapies. Frontiers in Oncology, 8.
