Each year, approximately 40,000 people in the UK receive a new blood cancer diagnosis [1]. In other words: someone in the UK receives a blood cancer diagnosis every 14 minutes. Because of this September is now established as Blood Cancer Awareness Month and 15 September marks World Lymphoma Awareness Day to raise awareness about the numerous types of blood disorders which pose a huge burden on families and healthcare systems.
Blood cancer is an ‘umbrella term’ which covers a range of disorders and cancers affecting the blood cells and/or bone marrow. Within this category lymphoma refers to cancers affecting the lymphatic system and its associated immune cells known as lymphocytes. The main types of blood cancer include Leukaemia (cancer of the white blood cells), Lymphoma (cancer of lymphocytes), and Myeloma (cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow). Each of them differs in terms of their symptoms, treatments, and prognoses [2].
A common misconception about cancer is the association with formation of lumps, growths, and ‘solid’ tumours. However, the uncontrolled division of cells – the hallmark of cancer – can also occur in ‘liquid’ form via the cells which form part of the blood and bone marrow [3]. Adding to this complexity is the vast number of blood cancer types (approximately 100) [2, 4]. Therefore, it is paramount that our understanding of each of these cancers constantly evolves, as well as advancing the development of potentially life-saving drugs or treatments which target blood cancers.
This is why at Cellomatics Biosciences, we specialise in Immuno-Oncology research and have established numerous in vitro assays for supporting drug discovery projects against diseases like blood cancers. Our capabilities include either monocultures of cancer cell lines (e.g. HMC1.2 or Raji cells) or utilising these cells in co-cultures with isolated primary (e.g. PBMCs) or immortalised (e.g. THP-1) immune cells. Each culture system presents unique advantages that can be leveraged in research. For example, the mast cell leukaemia cell line HMC1.2 which express both CD13 and CD33 were exposed to complementary primary antibodies to both markers. This was followed by treatment with a MMAE-conjugated secondary antibody in a dose-response format to induce cellular cytotoxicity, serving as a model for Antibody-Dependent Cytotoxicity (ADC; Figure 1). On the other hand, to demonstrate our co-culture capabilities, Raji cells (human B lymphoblastoid cell line) were pre-treated with Rituximab and subsequently combined with THP-1-derived macrophages to access cellular phagocytosis in a model of Antibody-dependent Cellular Phagocytosis (ADCP; Figure 2).
Figure 1. CD13+ and CD33+ HMC1.2 cells were exposed to primary antibodies specific to CD13 and CD33, followed by increasing concentrations of MMAE-conjugated secondary antibody (0 ng/ml to 100 ng/ml). Cytotoxicity was assessed by ATP release assay. Percentage of mortality was calculated relative to cells treated with primary antibodies only. Each point is the average of 4 replicates. Bars represent the Standard Error Mean (SEM).
Figure 2. Raji cells were pre-treated with Rituximab (RTX) for 15 minutes prior to initiating the co-culture with THP-1 derived macrophages at an effector to target cell ratio of 1:1. Staining of Raji cells with IncuCyte® phRodo® dye produces red fluorescent signals as a result of phagocytosis in response to the treatment conditions (A). The percentage of target cells positive for phagocytosis was determined by dividing the number of target cells (Raji) that have been phagocytosed relative to the total number of target cells (Raji) seeded at the start of co-culture (B). Data was represented as the mean ± SEM of 2 replicates.
