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Flow Cytometry is an essential resource for investigators performing research in cancer and cancer related areas. With the increasing number of assays being developed which utilize flow cytometry, this resource supports a diverse group of investigators. The Flow Cytometry Core Facility has been used to address questions in cellular immunology, cell biology, chemical carcinogenesis, radiology, human tumor cell cycle kinetics, mechanisms of drug action and differences between patient samples and normal donors.
The Immune Monitoring Core at USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center offers advice, technical support and equipment for all your Immune Monitoring needs. Whether you are a physician and you have samples that you would like to test for parameters that match your clinical responses, you are a graduate student looking for equipment to quantify your ELISPOT data or you are writing a research proposal that includes an immune monitoring component, this is the place to be. Browse through our site to find descriptions of available tests, basic pricing and availability information. If you want to discuss your approach, feel free to contact us directly. You’ll find our contact information in the menu. When you are ready to send your samples, call us to arrange for transportation.
Our Mission: Supporting clinical trials for immunotherapy of human cancer, for physicians involved in clinical trials for immunotherapy of human cancer, the Beckman Center for Immune Monitoring Core offers several assays to assess patient immune responses. Such assays provide a highly sensitive means of measuring the efficacy of an experimental treatment. It can help establish proof of principle that a treatment works, and suggest changes to adapt a standard treatment protocol to individual patient needs. Besides the Gold Standard of Immune monitoring: the ELISPOT assay for detection of cytokines released by activated T cells, we also perform intracellular cytokine staining and can detect tumor specific T cells by MHC tetramer analysis. Helper and killer T cells can be separated, and proliferative and cytotoxic responses are quantified in radioactive assays. The monitoring protocol of choice is tailor made to fit the needs and the possibilities of each treatment protocol. The core offers freezing and storage capacity for your samples and full analytical support for monitoring assays. It is also possible to send in samples for post-assay analysis using our state-of-the-art ELISPOT reader.
Characterization of immune cell activation and effector phenotypes is an important measure of responses to immunotherapy. Flow cytometry is used to detect and quantify cells stained with fluorescently labeled antibodies. Markers of cellular differentiation and homing status can also be measured. Another method that requires flow cytometric analysis and is frequently used in immune monitoring is intracellular cytokine staining, based on the principle, that immunocytes will generate cytokines upon activation. Thus, we can look for T cells responsive to a peptide of interest by quantification of cytokine producing cells before and after addition of the antigen. In this case we are looking for cytokine molecules that have not yet been secreted by the cells. General markers of immune activation can also be used to assess immune responses in patients.
The Luminex xMAP® technology allows for the measurement of up to 100 distinct proteins through a suspension bead array that employs a series of distinct color-coded microspheres to simultaneously detect multiple soluble analytes from a single serum, plasma, tissue culture supernatant, or other bodily fluid sample. Biomarker panels for obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, endocrinology, cell signaling, bone metabolism, and immunoglobulin isotyping are also available in addition to a wide selection of cytokines and chemokines. The system uses very small sample volumes and delivers fast and cost-effective results when analyzing multiple proteins. Please contact us to discuss which cytokines can be measured simultaneously and for recommendations for sample preparation.
This assay is used to quantify the number of cells in your sample secreting a particular cytokine. It is most commonly used to estimate the proportion of T cells reactive with a particular antigen, since responder cells will secrete IFN-g when encountering their antigen. The IMC can currently evaluate T cell responses to either recall antigens to monitor general immune responsiveness or to a specific antigen of your choice using overlapping sets of peptides. The assay can be performed using whole blood samples taken from cancer patients before, during, and after treatment by immunotherapy. Antibody-coated culture wells are used to plate the responder cells. After in vitro stimulation, captured cytokine is detected by another, enzymatically labeled antibody. Colored spots in the well represent individual cytokine secreting cells. In dual color ELISPOT assays, two different cytokines are detected simultaneously using separate enzymatic labels. The IMC can perform the ELISPOT assay for you, or you can come in with your stained plates to assess the spot number using our state-of-the-art Zeiss ELISPOT analyzer.
Information coming soon.
Information coming soon.
USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
Flow Cytometry Core Facility
HMR 704
1441 Eastlake Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Mabel and Arnold Beckman Center for Immune Monitoring
Harlyne J. Norris Cancer Research Tower, Room 7517
University of Southern California
1450 Biggy Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Flow Cytometry Core Facility
David Horwitz MD
Director
Department: Medicine - Rheu
Division: Keck School of Medicine
Campus: Health Sciences Campus
Building Code: HMR 711
Mail Code: 9099
Telephone: (323) 442-1949
Fax: (323) 442-2874
Email-dhorwitz@usc.edu
John Dixon Gray, Ph.D Core Supervisor 2011 Zonal Ave.
HMR 711, 9099
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Phone: (323) 442-1948
Fax: (323) 442-2874
Email: jdgray@usc.edu
Operator: Hal Soucier (also handles scheduling)
Phone: (323) 442-1954
Email: corefacs@ccnt.usc.edu
Mabel and Arnold Beckman Center for Immune Monitoring
W. Martin Kast, Ph.D. Director
Department: Molecular Microbiology & Immunology
Division: Keck School of Medicine
Campus: Health Sciences Campus
Building Code: NRT 7507
Mail Code: 9601
Telephone: (323) 442-3870
Fax: (323) 442-7760
Email: mkast@usc.edu
Diane Da Silva, Ph.D.
Core Manager
Department: USC Cancer Center
Division: Keck School of Medicine
Campus: Health Sciences Campus
Building Code: NRT 7517
Mail Code: 9601
Telephone: (323) 442-3869
Fax: (323) 442-7760
Email: ddasilva@usc.edu
Operator: de Mauri Mackie (also handles scheduling)
Phone: (323) 442-3869
CoreIM@ccnt.usc.edu
Contact us for further information.