Functional evaluation of immuno-oncology drug candidates

Immuno-oncology drug candidates can be tested in a variety of functional in vitro assays using primary human immune cells. For instance, MHC-associated peptide proteomics can be used to evaluate target peptide presentation by dendritic cells derived from primary monocytes of selected healthy donors. In addition, the immunogenic potential of therapeutic cancer vaccines can be assessed in autologous dendritic cell - T cell co-cultures with FluoroSpot readout or flow cytometry analysis after tetramer staining. Finally, the capacity of peptide-reactive T cells (expanded in DC - T cell co-cultures) to trigger peptide-specific killing of target cells can be tested in killing assays based on live-cell imaging or flow cytometry.