New ACEA kit for B cell killing

ACEA Biosciences, a pioneer in the development of high performance cell analysis platforms including the xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analyzer (RTCA) instruments and NovoCyte flow cytometers, is introducing an immunotherapy kit for in vitro monitoring and quantification of effector-mediated B cell killing. This kit enables continuous real-time monitoring of B cell lymphomas as they are exposed to diverse immunotherapy approaches including NK cells, T cells, CARTs, oncolytic virus, checkpoint inhibitors, bispecific antibodies, BiTEs, etc. The major distinguishing features of this technology include enhanced sensitivity, the preclusion of labels, simple workflow and, importantly, continuous kinetic measurement of B cell cytolysis. This B cell-specific kit is the first in a series of xCELLigence immunotherapy-focused kits that ACEA will be launching in the coming months.

The utility of impedance-based xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analysis (RTCA) for probing the efficacy of immunotherapies targeting solid/adherent cancers has been firmly established over the past decade. However, ~10% of all cancers are liquid in nature, are non-adherent and therefore cannot be directly monitored by the standard impedance assay. The B Cell Killing Assay Kit contains reagents which enable B cells to be selectively immobilized in the well bottoms of ACEA’s electronic microtiter plates. Addition of effector cells (NK, T, CART) on top of immobilized B cells results in cytolysis of target cells in an effector concentration-dependent manner. The continuous acquisition of impedance data for each well of the electronic plate allows the generation of real-time killing curves for multiple conditions simultaneously.

Dr. Yama Abassi, Vice President of ACEA Biosciences, noted that “The xCELLigence instruments provide a quantitative kinetic assessment of immune cell-mediated killing of both solid and liquid tumor cells under label-free conditions.” He further stated that “This functional assay is currently being used for evaluating/optimizing combination therapies, and for the development of adoptive cell therapies and engineered antibodies. Beyond the arena of R&D, we envision xCELLigence being utilized as a quality control assay for manufactured immuno-oncology therapies.”