Methods and Compositions for Making Dendritic Cells from Expanded Populations of Monocytes and for Activating T Cells
Description of Invention:
The current invention embodies methods for easily generating large numbers of dendritic cells from IL-3 cultured populations of monocytes. Dendritic cells are potent antigen presenting cells which are capable of mediating a variety of cell-mediated (T cell) immune responses, and therefore are clearly of value for use in immunotherapy. In addition, dendritic cells are quite rare in peripheral blood and therefore cannot be isolated in sufficient numbers for use in therapeutic applications. This method significantly enhances the generation of human dendritic cells from peripheral blood monocytes making possible more extensive use and study of this unique cell population and thereby clearly serving to overcome these difficulties. In addition to the methods embodied in the invention, ex vivo therapeutic applications, pharmaceutical compositions and diagnostic methods are claimed, as are cell cultures for making the dendritic cells.
Inventors:
Edward L. Nelson and Susan L. Strobl (NCI)
Patent Status:
DHHS Reference No. E-181-1997/0 --
U.S. Patent No. 6,479,286 issued 12 Nov 2002
