Dendritic Cell-Based Immunotherapy in Advanced Sarcoma and Neuroblastoma Pediatric Patients: Anti-cancer Treatment Preceding Monocyte Harvest Impairs the Immunostimulatory and Antigen-Presenting Behavior of DCs and Manufacturing Process Outcome.

Despite efforts to develop novel treatment strategies, refractory and relapsing sarcoma, and high-risk neuroblastoma continue to have poor prognoses and limited overall survival. Monocyte-derived dendritic cell (DC)-based anti-cancer immunotherapy represents a promising treatment modality in these neoplasias. A DC-based anti-cancer vaccine was evaluated for safety in an academic phase-I/II clinical trial for children, adolescents, and young adults with progressive, recurrent, or primarily metastatic high-risk tumors, mainly sarcomas and neuroblastomas.

Generation of human iPSCs from fetal prostate fibroblasts HPrF.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell line was generated from commercially available primary human prostate fibroblasts HPrF derived from a fetus, aged 18-24 weeks of gestation. The fibroblast cell line was reprogrammed with Yamanaka factors (OCT4, SOX2, c-MYC, KLF4) using CytoTune™-iPS 2.0 Sendai Reprogramming Kit.

Generation of human iPSCs from human prostate cancer-associated fibroblasts IBPi002-A.

A human induced pluripotent stem cell line was generated from cancer-associated fibroblasts of a 68-years old patient with diagnosed prostate adenocarcinoma (PCa). The fibroblast cell line was reprogrammed with Epi5™ Episomal iPSC Reprogramming Kit. Pluripotency of the derived transgene-free iPS cell line was confirmed both in vitro by detecting expression of factors of pluripotency on a single-cell level, and also in vivo using teratoma formation assay.

Soluble Cripto-1 Induces Accumulation of Supernumerary Centrosomes and Formation of Aberrant Mitoses in Human Embryonic Stem Cells.

Chromosomal instability evoked by abnormalities in centrosome numbers has been traditionally considered as a hallmark of aberrant, typically cancerous or senescent cells. We have reported previously that pristine human embryonic stem cells (hESC) suffer from high frequency of supernumerary centrosomes and hence may be prone to undergo abnormal mitotic divisions. We have also unraveled that this phenomenon of multicentrosomal mitoses vanishes with prolonged time in culture and with initiation of differentiation, and it is strongly affected by the culture substratum.

Intact Cell Mass Spectrometry as a Quality Control Tool for Revealing Minute Phenotypic Changes of Cultured Human Embryonic Stem Cells.

The stability of in vitro cell cultures is an important issue for any clinical, bio-industrial, or pharmacological use. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent; consequently, they possess the ability to differentiate into all three germ layers and are inherently prone to respond to differentiation stimuli. However, long-term culture inevitably yields clones that are best adapted to the culture conditions, passaging regimes, or differentiation sensitivity.