UCCRC Core Facilities:  Human Immunological Monitoring

Scientific Director:  Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD

Technical Director:  Yuanyuan Zha

Phone: 773-702-4812

Fax: 773-702-7195

Web Site:   http://him.bsd.uchicago.edu

The Human Immunologic Monitoring Facility serves as a specialized laboratory for evaluating pharmacodynamic parameters in response to agents or interventions that impact immune cells. This service enables a range of clinical cancer researchers, who don’t necessarily have laboratory expertise themselves, to measure immunologic endpoints in participating study subjects.  The Facility also monitors biologic effects of other pharmacologic agents (such as signal transduction inhibitors) using lymphocytes or other hematopoietic cells as a surrogate tissue.  The main procedures performed on a regular basis include IFN-γ ELISPOT analysis, peptide/class I MHC tetramer analysis, flow cytometric staining for hematopoietic subsets and activation markers in peripheral blood, antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, ELISAs for specific factors in serum or plasma, real-time RT-PCR analysis for expression of immune-related genes, tumor antigens, or other relevant transcripts in blood cells or tissues, RNA preparation for gene expression profiling, and Western blot analysis for specific signaling intermediates. While several standard assays are in place, the Facility has the flexibility to develop new assays when needed for specific scientific questions.  Finally, the technologists of the Facility interface with the cGMP Facility to carry out the preparation of clinical-grade products, such as cancer vaccines, for administration to patients.