Cryopreservation of primary porcine liver cells in an organotypical sandwich model in a clinically relevant flat membrane bioreactor.

To overcome the logistical difficulties of continuously supplying freshly-isolated, primary porcine liver cells to bioartificial liver support bioreactors, we developed a cryopreservation method using an organotypical sandwich model in a flat membrane bioreactor (FMB). We measured albumin secretion rate, urea synthesis rate and 7-ethoxy coumarin (ECOD) in long-term cultures of cryopreserved cells (up to 14 days). The albumin secretion rate was 62% that of non-cryopreserved cells at days 11 and 14.

Vaccination strategy to target lysyl oxidase-like 4 in dendritic cell based immunotherapy for head and neck cancer.

Overexpression of lysyl oxidase (LOX) is associated with the invasive potential of metastatic breast and head and neck cancer (HNC) cells and reduced metastasis-free and overall survival. Recently, we have demonstrated up-regulation of a new member of the LOX family, lysyl oxidase-like 4 (LOXL4), in invasive HNC revealed a significant correlation between LOXL4 expression and local lymph node metastases and higher tumour stages. The objective of this study was to examine whether cellular LOXL4 may provide an effective target for cell-meditated immunotherapy in invasive tumours associated with LOXL4 overexpression.