The invention provides monocytes expressing CD16 and CD163 and experimental system for drug screening or evaluating drug candidates where the modulation of CD16 and CD163 is desired.

The present disclosure provides, in part, a culture medium comprising: interleukin-2; lipopolysaccharide; one, two or more antibiotics; animal serum; and a growth factor, and methods for using same.

The present invention contemplates compositions, devices and methods of simulating biological fluids in a fluidic device, including but not limited to a microfluidic chip. In one embodiment, fluid comprising a colloid under flow in a microfluidic chip has a fluid density or viscosity similar to a bodily fluid, e.g. blood, lymph, lung fluid, or the like. In one embodiment, a fluid is provided as a rheologically biomimetic blood surrogate or substitute for simulating physiological shear stress and cell dynamics in fluidic device, including but not limited to immune cells.

The invention relates to an artificial antigen-presenting cell (aAPC) comprising at least one immune stimulatory ligand and co-stimulatory ligands comprising or consisting of CD86, CD70 and CD137L, methods of preparing an aAPC and methods of inducing proliferation of an immune cell or expanding a population of immune cells. The invention also relates to methods for inducing an immune response or treating a medical condition in a subject. The invention further relates to methods of identifying an antigenic peptide or method of identifying or detecting the presence of an immune cell that recognizes an antigen.

Compositions, systems, and methods for activating dendritic cells are disclosed. Also disclosed are compositions, systems, and methods for reducing viability of cancer cells and treating cancer, as well as preventing an increase in volume of a tumor present in a body of a living subject, along with methods of treating other diseases and infections. The systems and methods involve application of an alternating electric field to dendritic cell(s) in vivo or ex vivo and/or to a subject or cancer cells isolated therefrom. The systems and methods may further include administration of activated dendritic cells to a subject. The compositions comprise populations of isolated dendritic cells activated by exposure to an alternating electric field.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for treating cancer.

The present disclosure relates to a pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating immune diseases or inflammatory diseases including inflammatory stimulated mesenchymal stem cells and a method of preparing mesenchymal stem cells for preventing or treating immune diseases or inflammatory diseases. The inflammatory stimulated mesenchymal stem cells of the present disclosure have an effect of releasing acetylcholine, thereby replacing the conventional immunosuppressants and inflammation inhibitors known to have side effects and being useful for the prevention or treatment of immune diseases and inflammatory diseases as a cell therapy agent which can be economically used for the diseases.

In an embodiment, present invention relates to a method of generating, ex vivo production of soluble Lox-1 (sLox-1), comprising: introducing a sample containing blood into a device; adding a coagulation enhancing material in the sample to form a cultured blood clot; incubating the cultured blood clot in the device at a temperature greater than 25? C. and less than 45? C. for at least 2 hours to allow production of Lox-1 from neutrophils of blood and to shed the sLox-1 outside the cultured blood clot; and collecting sLox-1 shedded in the device, wherein the method is configured to shed sLox-1 more than fresh blood.

Disclosed are methods of preparing an isolated population of dendritic cells, isolated populations of dendritic cells prepared by the methods, and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the isolated population of dendritic cells. Also disclosed are methods of treating or preventing cancer using the isolated population of dendritic cells or pharmaceutical compositions.

The disclosure relates to an ex vivo generated population of educated macrophages specific to LPS and methods of making and using such macrophages.