Core C: Cell Therapy. This is a new core that will take advantage of new physical space resources toconsolidate efforts relating to cell therapies developed and applied in this program. This core will thereforeprovide four specific functions: (1) specimen procurement, prioritization, and distribution for research, incoordination with the Clinical Cytotherapy/Transplant Laboratory, inpatient units, and outpatient clinics, andincluding a centralized storage repository (all Projects 1-6); (2) graft characterization by flow cytometry,clonogenic assays, and lymphocyte functional assays to develop predictors of graft outcome (Project 6); (3)production and release of NK cells and antigen (CMV and WT-1)-specific T cells for adoptiveimmunptherapy, including the generation of human dendritic cells and EBV-transformed B cell lines forlymphocyte stimulation and expansion ex vivo (Projects 1, 4, and 6); and (4) coordinated QA/QC oversight ofthese activities (Project 6). The actual cell processing for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation will remainwith the Clinical Cytotherapy Laboratory. Additionally, the activities conducted by the Clinical CytotherapyLaboratory are largely billable as clinical patient care and do not require support from this core. This corewill also interact with Core B by providing the upfront graft characterization that will help interpret posttransplantmonitoring of myeloid (including dendritic cell) and lymphoid reconstitution pertinent to graftoutcome. The integration of these previously separate efforts will provide greater efficiency of effort andcosts, will enhance patient care by improved characterization of allograft biology, and will provide NK andAg-specific T cell therapies to address major early complications of disease recurrence and opportunisticinfections.Lay summary and public health relevance: Fewer complications and the availability of alternative donorsto matched siblings have made allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation available to largernumbers of patients. These include older patients and those with coexisting medical problems. Laboratorysupport provided by this Core will sustain research and development in this area as well as translationalapplications in the proposed clinical trials. These activities will help improve the overall outcomes of patientsundergoing allogeneic transplant each year for an increasing variety of malignancies.
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