Electrofusion generates diverse DC-tumour cell hybrids for cancer immunotherapy.

Background: Hybrid cells generated from dendritic cells (DC) and tumour cells provide tumour-associated antigens (TAA) in a polyvalent mode. The present study was designed to investigate the hybrid cell generation by dendritic cells and different tumour cell lines to establish an electrofusion protocol with an optimal fusion setting.
Materials and Methods: Hybrid cells from mature DC and tumour cells were generated by electrofusion. Fusion efficiency was determined by flow cytometry, as well as by light and fluorescence microscopy analyses.
Results: The gradual electrofusion process constituted different human dendritic cell tumour cell hybrids of high diversity depending on electrical and non-electrical parameters. Factors influencing fusion frequency were determined by specific cell staining with mAbs, FACS analysis and trypan blue dye exclusion.
Conclusion: Increased fusion efficiency was associated with reduced viability. The protocol presented in this work might be helpful for future fusion studies as a prerequisite for comparable in vitro and human vaccination trials.