The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of an immunogenic lysate from mesothelioma tumor cells, to such a lysate and to dendritic cells loaded with the lysate, the present invention further relates a pharmaceutical composition comprising such lysate or dendritic cells, to the use of the lysate, and to said loaded dendritic cells or said pharmaceutical composition for use in the prevention or treatment of mesothelioma.

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.

An in vitro microfluidic intestine on-chip is described herein that mimics the structure and at least one function of specific areas of the gastrointestinal system in vivo. In particular, a multicellular, layered, microfluidic intestinal cell culture, which is some embodiments is derived from patient's enteroids-derived cells, is described comprising L cells, allowing for interactions between L cells and gastrointestinal epithelial cells, endothelial cells and immune cells. This in vitro microfluidic system can be used for modeling inflammatory gastrointestinal autoimmune tissue, e.g., diabetes, obesity, intestinal insufficiency and other inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders. These multicellular-layered microfluidic intestine on-chips further allow for comparisons between types of gastrointestinal tissues, e.g., small intestinal duodenum, small intestinal jejunum, small intestinal ileum, large intestinal colon, etc., and between disease states of gastrointestinal tissue, i.e. healthy, pre-disease and diseased areas. Additionally, these microfluidic gut-on-chips allow identification of cells and cellular derived factors driving disease states and drug testing for reducing inflammation.

This invention relates to methods, peptides, nucleic acids and cells for use in isolating and expanding human T cell populations in an antigen-specific manner for immunodiagnostic or therapeutic purposes. The invention also relates to professional antigen presenting cells derived from pluripotent human stem cells, and to customizable antigen presentation by the antigen presenting cells.

The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of an immunogenic lysate from mesothelioma tumor cells, to such a lysate and to dendritic cells loaded with the lysate, the present invention further relates a pharmaceutical composition comprising such lysate or dendritic cells, to the use of the lysate, and to said loaded dendritic cells or said pharmaceutical composition for use in the prevention or treatment of mesothelioma.

The invention relates to methods, peptides, nucleic acids and cells for use in isolating and expanding human T cell populations in an antigen-specific manner for immunodiagnostic or therapeutic purposes. The invention also relates to professional antigen presenting cells derived from pluripotent human stem cells, and to customizable antigen presentation by the antigen presenting cells.

A method for producing continuously replicating, non-transformed pig macrophages, comprising culturing a cell preparation from an organ obtained from a pig in culture medium to which GM-CSF has been added thereby differentiating the cell population into self-renewing, non-transformed macrophages.

Provided herein are polymeric particles and compositions (i.e., backpacks) that can adhere to cells and provide delivery of payload agents to those cells, and/or direct therapeutic activity of those cells.

Compositions and methods for the prophylaxis and treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are disclosed herein. More specifically the present invention discloses describes an autologous dendritic cell (DC) vaccine product derived by culturing a patient's monocytes with granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interferon alpha 2b (IFN-?), loading the DC with a mixture of five lipopeptides of Gag, Nef and Pol HIV antigens, and, optionally activating the DC with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Methods of stimulating or enhancing an immune response in a host are disclosed. The methods include contacting a monocyte with 15 kD granulysin thereby producing a monocyte-derived dendritic cell. In one example, the method further includes contacting the monocyte or monocyte-derived dendritic cell with a target antigen, such as a tumor antigen or an autoimmune antigen. In another embodiment, the method includes contacting the monocyte with an additional agent that enhances maturation of dendritic cells or induces immunological tolerance. The methods are of use in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo. In another aspect, the disclosure relates to compositions and methods for the treatment of tumors.