Background
Monocytes are myeloid cells that reside in the blood and bone marrow and respond to inflammation. At the site of inflammation, monocytes express cytokines and chemokines. Monocytes have been shown to be cytotoxic to tumor cells in the presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as Interferon Alpha, Interferon Gamma, and IL-6. We have previously shown that monocytes stimulated with both interferons (IFNs)
Conclusion
Large scale isolation of monocytes from both healthy donors and patients with advanced, chemotherapy resistant ovarian cancer, can be achieved with high total number of monocytes. These monocytes can be cryopreserved and maintain viability and cytotoxic function. All of the elutriated cell fractions contain ample immune cells which could be used for other cell therapy-based applications.
Methods
Counter flow elutriation was performed on healthy donors or women with ovarian cancer. The monocyte-containing, RO-fraction was assessed for total monocyte number, purity, viability, and cytotoxicity with and without a cryopreservation step. All five fractions obtained from the elutriation procedure were also assessed by flow cytometry to measure the percent of immune cell subsets in each fraction.
Results
Both iterative monocyte isolation using counter flow elutriation or cryopreservation following counter flow elutriation can yield over 2 billion monocytes for each donor with high purity. We also show that the monocytes are stable, viable, and retain cytotoxic functions when cultured with IFNs.