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Adoptive cellular therapy with immune effector cells (IECs) has shown promising efficacy against some neoplastic diseases as well as potential in immune regulation. Both inherent variability in starting material and variations in cell composition produced by the manufacturing process must be thoroughly evaluated with a validated method established to quantify viable lymphocyte subtypes. Currently, commercialized immunophenotyping methods determine cell viability with significant errors in thawed products since they do not include any viability staining. We hereby report on the validation of a flow cytometry-based method for quantifying viable lymphocyte immunophenotypes in fresh and cryopreserved hematopoietic cellular products. Using fresh or frozen cellular products and stabilized blood, we report on the validation parameters accuracy, uncertainty, precision, sensitivity, robustness and contamination between samples for quantification of viable CD3+, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, CD3–CD56+CD16+/– NK cells, CD19+ B cells and CD14+ monocytes of relevance to fresh and cryopreserved hematopoietic cellular products using the Cytomics FC500 cytometer (Beckman Coulter). The acceptance criteria set in the validation plan were all met. The method is able to accommodate the variability in absolute numbers of cells in starting materials collected or cryopreserved from patients or healthy donors (uncertainty of ≤20% at three different concentrations), stability over time (compliance over 3 years during regular inter-laboratory comparisons) and confidence in meaningful changes during cell processing and manufacturing (intra-assay and intermediate precision of 10% coefficient of variation). Furthermore, the method can accurately report on the efficacy of cell depletion since the lower limit of quantification was established (CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells at 9, 8 and 8 cells/µL, respectively). The method complies with Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) standards for IEC, FACT-Joint Accreditation Committee of ISCT-EBMT (JACIE) hematopoietic cell therapy standards, International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use Q2(R1) and International Organization for Standardization 15189 standards. Furthermore, it complies with Ligand Binding Assay Bioanalytical Focus Group/American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, International Council for Standardization of Hematology/International Clinical Cytometry Society and European Bioanalysis Forum recommendations for validating such methods. The implications of this effort include standardization of viable cell immunophenotyping of starting material for cell manufacturing, cell selection and in-process quality controls or dosing of IECs. This method also complies with all relevant standards, particularly FACT-JACIE standards, in terms of enumerating and reporting on the viability of the "clinically relevant cell populations." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Intraocular lymphoma (IOL) is a rare condition and frequently difficult to distinguish from uveitis or other uveitis-masquerading syndromes. The diagnosis is confirmed by cytologic examination of ocular fluid specimens and more recently by molecular-immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) translocation or cytokine analysis. However, some of these more recent methods have not been validated by follow-up studies. Design: Evaluation of a diagnostic test. Participants: In a cohort of 51 consecutive patients with a clinical suspicion of IOL, vitreous analysis was performed via multicolor flowcytometric immunophenotyping. Methods: Multicolor flowcytometric immunophenotyping was performed with CD45, CD3, CD19, CD20, anti-SmIgκ, and anti-SmIgλ antibodies. The presence of a clear B-cell population showing a disequilibrium of Igκ versus Igλ expression was used to confirm the diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Patients were followed for a minimum of 2 years (mean, 5.9±2.0 years) to validate the accuracy of the method. Main Outcome Measures: The presence or absence of IOL during follow-up. Results: In 14 of 51 patients, a clinical diagnosis of IOL was confirmed using flowcytometric analysis. Of these 14 patients, 11 had primary IOL and 3 had metastasized secondary lymphomas. In 3 of 51 patients who were diagnosed with (central nervous system) NHL during follow-up, the test failed to confirm the presence of a clonal B-cell population. In 18 of the 34 other patients, an infectious or well-defined immunologic disorder was established during follow-up. The remaining 16 patients, with a minimal follow-up of 2 years, were diagnosed with idiopathic uveitis. Conclusions: Multicolor flowcytometric analysis had 82.4% sensitivity and 100% specificity in patients with suspected IOL. This is comparable to the reported vitreous interleukin (IL)-6/IL-10 testing sensitivity of 0.8 and sensitivity of 0.65 to 0.95 by immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) gene arrangement testing in clinical cohorts. Because flowcytometric tests are readily performed in hematologic laboratories, this can be regarded as a useful method for confirming the clinical diagnosis of IOL. Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on the aptamer-conjugated core–shell near-infrared fluorescent nanoparticles (NIR-Nps) and fluorescence anisotropy measurement, the present study reported proof-of-principle for a rapid homogeneous assay approach that can detect target cancer cells without the need of the complicated separation steps in whole blood samples. Experimental investigation showed that the novel NIR-Nps have negligible background fluorescence and low inner filtration interference in complex biologic systems such as whole blood. The specific recognition characteristic of aptamer in whole blood samples was investigated by using the proposed fluorescence anisotropy method. The results showed that the fluorescent nanoparticle-tagged aptamer probes sequence could achieve specific recognition of the target cancer cells from complex mixtures including whole blood samples. And the reaction conditions for the binding between fluorescent nanoparticle-conjugated aptamer probes and target cancer cells were optimized. The present approach can exhibit sensitive and reproducible fluorescence anisotropy responses to the target cells concentration and the calibration curve showed good linearity when the target cells concentration is in the range from 4.0×103 to 7.0×105 cells/mL. Moreover, the present fluorescence anisotropy assay technique could be practically utilized for the detection of acute leukemia samples with improved capabilities and be comparable to the immunophenotyping methods clinically used. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Adoptive cellular therapy with immune effector cells (IEC) has shown remarkable toxicity against tumor cells and potential in immune regulation. Both variability in cell content of starting material and compromised cell viability during manufacturing necessitate a validated method for quantifying viable lymphocyte subtypes individually. Currently-commercialized immunophenotyping methods report cell viability in thawed products with significant error since they do not include any viability staining. We hereby report on the validation of a flow cytometry-based method for quantifying viable lymphocyte- immunophenotypes in fresh and cryopreserved hematopoietic cellular products. Using fresh or frozen cellular products and stabilized blood, we report on the validation parameters: accuracy, uncertainty, precision, sensitivity, robustness and carry-over for quantification of viable CD3+, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, CD3-CD56+CD16+/- NK cells, CD19+ B cells and CD14+ monocytes of relevance to hematopoietic products and immune effector cell (IEC) products on the Cytomics FC500 Beckman Coulter cytometer. The acceptance criteria set in the validation plan were all met. The method is able to accommodate the variability in absolute numbers of cells in starting materials collected or cryopreserved from patients or healthy donors (uncertainty of 10% at 3 different concentrations), stability over time (compliance over 3 years during regular inter-laboratory comparisons), and confidence in meaningful changes during cell processing and manufacturing (intra-assay and intermediate precision of 10% CV). Furthermore, the method can accurately report on the efficacy of cell depletion, since the lower limit of quantification was established (CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells at 9, 8 and 8 cells/µl, respectively). The method complies with FACT Standards for IEC, FACT-JACIE Hematopoietic Cell Therapy Standards, ICH Q2(R1) and ISO15189 standards. Furthermore, it complies with LBAFG-AAPS, ICSH/ICCS and European Bioanalysis Forum recommendations for validating such methods. The implications of this effort include: standardization of viable cell immunophenotyping of starting material for cell manufacturing, cell selection, in-process or dosing of immune effector cells. This method also complies with all relevant standards, particularly FACT-JACIE Standards in terms of enumerating and reporting on the viability of the "clinically relevant cell populations". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]