MDSC Supression Assay
The tumor microenvironment is well-characterized as highly immunosuppressive, and there are many mechanisms responsible. Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC) are macrophage-like cells that have attained an immunosuppressive phenotype as a result of the tumor microenvironment, and are known to suppress the activity of tumor-directed T cells.
We have developed an assay that synthetically derives MDSCs and measures their ability to suppress T cell proliferation. Test your compound’s ability to mitigate this suppression and boost T cell activity.
How does the MDSC Suppression Assay work?
- PBMC are stimulated with a cytokine cocktail including GM-CSF and IL-6 to induce MDSC differentiation
- MDSC are recovered using CD33+ isolation
- Autologous T cells are incubated with the CD33+ MDSCs and stimulated with anti-CD3/CD28
- Endpoints measured: T cell proliferation and activation surface markers
What can we observe?
Blood-derived monocytes can be efficiently differentiated to myeloid derived suppressor cells using a cytokine cocktail including GM-CSF and IL-6, and are enriched using the marker CD33 (see diagram).
CD33+ MDSC can be cocultured with autologous CD8+ T cells to measure their suppressive effects.
We have demonstrated that cytokine-derived MDSCs dose-dependently inhibit autologous CD8+ T cell proliferation compared to CD8+ T cells alone (green vs red or blue bubbles).
In a culture of CD8+ T cells alone, 20% of T cells do not proliferate, whereas the addition of MDSC to the culture dose-dependently increases the percentage of undivided cells.
We can assess your compound for its ability to relieve suppression on T cells.
For more information on this service or to discuss your requirements with our team.