Agar capillary clonogenic microassays for cellular immunocytotoxic activities in human leukaemia and lymphoma

• Published in: Leukemia & lymphoma Vol. 9; no. 4-5; p. 305
• Main Authors: Maurer, H R, Hassan, H T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 1993
• Subjects: Agar; Cyclophosphamide - analogs & derivatives; Cyclophosphamide - pharmacology; Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic - drug effects; Humans; Immunotherapy, Adoptive; Interferons - pharmacology; Interferons - therapeutic use; Interleukins - pharmacology; Interleukins - therapeutic use; Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated - drug effects; Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated - immunology; Killer Cells, Natural - drug effects; Killer Cells, Natural - immunology; Leukemia - pathology; Leukemia - therapy; Lymphoma - pathology; Lymphoma - therapy; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumor Stem Cell Assay
• DOI: 10.3109/10428199309148527
• ISSN: 1042-8194

Current concepts of immunotherapeutic approaches in leukemias and lymphomas using activated cytotoxic lymphocytes and macrophages are briefly reviewed. Defective cellular immunocytotoxic activities and effects of interleukins and chemotherapeutic drugs thereupon are discussed. In vitro assays to measure lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) and natural killer (NK) cell activities suffer from various problems, depending on the quality of the endpoints. Our clonogenic microassay for LAK cell activity, using agar-containing glass capillaries, avoids some of the potential artifacts and offers several advantages that are discussed. As an example the stimulatory effect of low mafosfamide concentrations on the LAK cell activity versus K562 human myeloid leukemia cells is demonstrated. Thus, our clonogenic LAK microassay provides a valid tool for preclinical screening of immunomodulatory agents.