Scientific Co-Directors: Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD, and Amittha Wickrema, PhD
Technical Directors: Yuanyuan Zha, PhD (HIM), and Diane Ostrega, MS, MBA (cGMP)
Website: him.uchicago.edu
The Human Immunologic Monitoring-cGMP Facility provides service to clinical cancer investigators to prepare clinical-grade products, and to measure immunologic endpoints and other pharmacodynamic parameters in subjects participating in clinical trials. The facility serves as a specialized laboratory to perform scientific analyses that include: 1) evaluating changes in immune response parameters in response to immunotherapeutic interventions; 2) monitoring biologic effects of other pharmacologic agents using lymphocytes or other hematopoietic cell subsets as a surrogate tissue; and 3) preparing clinical-grade products, such as cancer vaccines, for administration to patients. The Facility also has flexibility to develop new assays when needed for specific scientific questions.
Services
- Preparation of peptide-based cancer vaccines
- Vialing of cGMP-grade peptides and quality control
- Isolation of specific cell subsets from PBMCs
- Isolation of T cell subsets from viably frozen tumor biopsies
- mRNA isolation and qRT-PCR analysis of gene expression profiling data in the tumor microenvironment
- Preparation of RNA sample from cells or tumor biopsies for microarray analysis
- Preparation of tissue samples for immunohistochemistry
- DNA, RNA, and microRNA isolation from in vitro stimulated T cells
- In vitro priming for antigen-specific CD8+ T cells
- ELISPOT for IFN-γ and other cytokines
- Peptide/tetramer or dextramer analysis
- Flow cytometric staining for specific T-cell subsets and activation markers
- PHA-induced T cell proliferation
- NK cell cytolytic activity
- Intracellular FACS analysis for cytokines and/or other proteins
- ELISA assays for specific factors in serum, plasma, and other body fluids
- Western blot analysis for specific signal transduction intermediates
- Data analysis, assistance in grant proposals, budget preparation
