Cryopreservation of mature monocyte-derived human dendritic cells for vaccination: influence on phenotype and functional properties

Comparing the Ability of Freshly Generated and Cryopreserved Dendritic Cell Vaccines to Inhibit Growth of Breast Cancer in a Mouse Model

“…We compared the morphology, phenotype, and stimulatory properties between cryopreserved and fresh MDC using both in vitro and in vivo experimental systems. Our in vitro studies findings confirm previous findings 17,18 that cryopreserved DCs can retain their functional properties. Schuler–Thurner et al 19 have shown that an injection of cryopreserved DCs derived from monocytes that were loaded with antigens could induce Thq 1 immune responses in melanoma patients.…”

“…To date, attempts to freeze and thaw DCs for this purpose have shown apparently no significant alterations in phenotype, viability, ability to resist pro-apoptotic stimuli, and functional properties of human DCs in vitro. 16,17 Similar observations in some in vitro studies were also reported with antigen-loaded DCs cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen for 7 months. 18 This implies that successful cryopreservation methods can reduce the laboriousness of the DC generation protocols and variability in the quality of DCs due to the repetitive generation of DCs before each vaccination step.…”

“…This finding is consistent with the studies performed on human monocyte-derived DCs by others, who reported that the expression of most phenotypic markers observed in fresh and cryopreserved DCs derived from normal human monocytes were similar. 16,17,22 The expression stability of these cell surface antigens on DCs was also demonstrated in monocyte-derived DCs obtained from chronic myeloid leukemia patients in whom the expression levels were found to be comparable to those seen on DCs isolated from healthy donors even after cryopreservation. 17 Thus, our findings show that the expression stability of DC-specific cell surface antigens on cryopreserved MDC was similar to that observed in the human system.…”

“…16,17,22 The expression stability of these cell surface antigens on DCs was also demonstrated in monocyte-derived DCs obtained from chronic myeloid leukemia patients in whom the expression levels were found to be comparable to those seen on DCs isolated from healthy donors even after cryopreservation. 17 Thus, our findings show that the expression stability of DC-specific cell surface antigens on cryopreserved MDC was similar to that observed in the human system. In the mixed lymphocytes reaction, the stimulatory properties of freshly generated and cryopreserved BM-derived DCs in inducing a proliferative response on the T-lymphocytes were compared.…”

Controlled-rate freezer cryopreservation of highly concentrated peripheral blood mononuclear cells results in higher cell yields and superior autologous T-cell stimulation for dendritic cell-based immunotherapy

“…Given that the induction of specific autologous T-cell responses is crucial in DC-based immunotherapy [4], this observation might be important for the design of future clinical studies. Although several studies emphasized that cryopreservation does not alter phenotypic or functional properties of DC [9, 45, 46], these studies evaluated already differentiated iDC or mDC for IPA-cryopreservation and may not reflect all aspects of cryopreserving cells for DC immunotherapy.…”