Objective

New treatments that harness the body’s immune system and direct it towards killing tumour cells have the potential to transform cancer treatment. However, even these highly efficacious new treatments are only active in select patient populations and resistance can develop with prolonged treatment, highlighting the continued need for new, more effective and durable treatment modalities. In order to aid the development and characterisation of these new treatments we have developed a comprehensive in vitro assay platform. Here, we highlight the isolation and characterisation of multiple immune cell populations from blood using cell surface markers and flow cytometry. Isolated T-cells are characterised in proliferation and clustering assays using the IncuCyte® ZOOM imaging platform or through assay endpoint measurements. The effects of immune cell checkpoint inhibitors on T-cell biology are presented using a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assay, demonstrating enhanced T-cell function upon blockade of the key receptors with antibodies. In addition we have developed a number of co-culture models to assess tumour cell killing including antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) assays. Overall this assay platform provides a wide range of options to complement integrated drug discovery initiatives to identify the next generation of innovative immuno-oncology therapeutics.