TruCulture has been utilized in dozens of clinical trials with demonstrated utility in understanding innate immunity, evaluating immune response to oncology treatments, understanding longitudinal changes in immunity and vaccine development. Open the case studies below for an overview of different studies that utilized TruCulture.
Below the case studies is a bibliography of publications that utilized TruCulture.
Restoration of innate immune function in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
Chroniclymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a cancer of mature B cells associated with immune dysregulation.
A 2024 study examined the innate immune function in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients treated with acalabrutinib or ibrutinib + venetoclax. The study utilized TruCulture tubes to assess cytokine release in response to standardized stimuli and characterized innate immune phenotypes via flow cytometry. At baseline, patients exhibited impaired cytokine responses and elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines.
However, after two to three cycles of targeted therapy, these responses normalized, correlating with a decrease in infection duration and frequency. The study highlights the potential of targeted treatments to restore innate immune function and reduce infection risk in CLL patients, with ongoing investigations in the PreVent-ACaLL phase 2 trial.
It also underscores the crucial role of TruCulture tubes in providing a standardized method to assess innate immune function, ensuring consistent and reliable measurement of cytokine responses.
Reference: Svanberg Teglgaard R, Marquart HV, HartlingHJ, Bay JT, da Cunha-Bang C, Brieghel C, et al. Improved innate immune functionin patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated with targeted therapy inclinical trials. Clin Cancer Res. 2024;30(9):1959-1971. Available from: https://doi:10.1158/10780432.CCR-23-2522
Tailoring non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment, including PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors
In an open-label clinical study, 37 patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were observed to evaluate the immune response to different treatments, including PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), chemotherapy (CT), and chemo-radiotherapy (CT/RT).
Blood samples were collected at several intervals and immune responses were analyzed using TruCulture tubes and a standardized immunoassay. TruCulture enabled precise monitoring of cytokine release as a measure of immune function for both intracellular and extracellular pathways, with researchers identifying an evolving immune response triggered by both immune checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapy.
Higher cytokine levels were observed prior to therapy and lower cytokines were observed after therapy, suggesting immune activation. The immune response from patients receiving chemotherapy correlated with 12-month survival, suggesting the prognostic value of this method.
These results indicate that TruCulture maybe an effective tool for early evaluation of response to immune check point inhibitors in NSCLC and other cancers, emphasizing the critical role of timing and understanding of immune function for precise immunomonitoring.
Reference: Ryssel H, Egebjerg K, Nielsen SD, LundgrenJ, Pøhl M, Langer SW, et al. Innate immune function during antineoplastic treatment is associated with 12-months survival in non-small cell lung cancer. Front Immunol. 2022;13:1024224. Available from: https://doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.1024224
RIPK1 inhibition in inflammatory diseases
Receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) plays a crucial role in mediating necroptosis, a form of programmed necrosis implicated in various inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. GSK2982772, a selective RIPK1 inhibitor, has shown promise in preventing RIPK1-mediated cell death and cytokine production.
Researchers used TruCulture tubes to determine the pharmacodynamics (PD) of single and repeated doses of GSK2982772 in healthy adult males. TruCulture tubes were supplemented with a cocktail (TNF-αα, zVAD, and Smac mimetic) to stimulate necroptosis.
Volunteers received, across 14 days:
1) placebo,
2) 20mg once daily,
3) 60mg once daily,
4) 60mg twice daily, or
5) 120mg twice daily.
Whole blood samples collected at multiple time points were incubated in TruCulture tubes. Supernatants analyzed for MIP-1αα production demonstrated that GSK2982772 inhibited RIPK1-dependent MIP-1αα production, with maximum inhibition observed at 1.5- and 8-hours post-treatment across all dosing groups.
This study demonstrated TruCulture’s effectiveness in assessing pharmacodynamic responses.
Reference: Weisel K, Scott NE, Tompson DJ, Votta BJ, Madhavan S, Povey K, et al. Randomized clinical study of safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of RIPK1 inhibitor GSK2982772 in healthy volunteers. Pharmacol Res Perspect. 2017 Dec;5(6):e00365. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1002/prp2.365
Enhancing anti-cancer immunity through NK cell modulation
Natural killer (NK) cell activation and killing of tumor cells are important innate responses in anti-cancer immunity. Modulating NK cell function by stimulating to ll-like receptors has been shown to enhance therapeutic efficacy of biologics. VTX-2337 is a TLR-8 agonist that activates NK cells by enhancing antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity in the presence of other clinical therapeutics (trastuzumab, rituximab, cetuximab).
In a 2016 study, whole blood was collected from healthy donors using TruCulture tubes containing 2 concentrations of VTX-2337 (0.3 or 1 μM) and incubated for 24 hours. Supernatant analysis showed that VTX-2337 stimulated IL-18 and IL-1ββ production, indicating cytokine production via TLR-8 engagement.
These results demonstrate the potential of VTX-2337 to boost anti-cancer immunity and highlight TruCulture’s advantage in studying immune responses.
Reference: Dietsch GN, Lu H, Yang Y, Morishim C, ChowLQ, Disis ML, et al. Coordinated activation of toll-like receptor8 (TLR8) andNLRP3 by the TLR8 agonist, VTX-2337, ignites tumoricidal natural killer cellactivity. PLOS One. Feb 29, 2016. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148764
Impact of smoking on immune responses
In a 2024 study published in Nature, researchers explored factors contributing to variability in immune responses.
Researchers examined 136 variables and identified smoking, latent cytomegalovirus infection, and body mass index as major contributors to cytokine response variability, comparable to age, sex and genetics.
Whole blood samples from 1,000 healthy donors were collected and stimulated using TruCulture tubes with various immune agonists, and cytokine levels were measured using our internally developed Luminex-based assays.
Smoking was found to influence cytokine secretion, affecting both innate and adaptive immune responses. While the impact on innate responses diminishes rapidly after quitting smoking, the effect on adaptive responses remains long after cessation and is tied to epigenetic memory.
The study identified specific cytokines and immune responses affected by smoking, including associations with plasma levels of CEACAM6 and DNA methylation changes. The findings reveal that smoking has both short- and long-term effects on immune responses, with potential clinical implications for the risk of developing infections, cancers or autoimmune diseases.
TruCulture tubes provided a controlled environment for accurately assessing these immune responses.
Reference: Saint-André V, Charbit B, Biton A, RouillyV, Possémé C, Bertrand A, et al. Smoking changes adaptive immunity withpersistent effects. Nature. 2024;626(8000):827-835. Available from: https://doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06968-8
Safety and immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines
In this study, TruCulture tubes were used as a standardized whole‑blood stimulation system to assess antigen‑specific T‑cell responses after two doses of an adjuvanted SARS‑CoV‑2 recombinant protein vaccine.
Blood samples collected at multiple time points were drawn directly into three types of TruCulture tubes:
- spike‑antigen tubes
- negative‑control tubes
- positive‑control tubes (SEB + CD28)
to measure cytokine secretion profiles ex vivo.
Using TruCulture provided high‑fidelity immune response readouts, enabling the researchers to profile Th1‑associated cytokines (IFN‑γ, IL‑2, TNF‑α), which increased after vaccination. TruCulture minimized pre-analytical variability, enabled high-throughput immune profiling at our lab, and differentiated between immune signatures, enabling clear comparison of cytokine profiles across vaccine arms and timepoints.
Reference: Goepfert PA, Fu B,Chabanon AL, et al. Safety and immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 recombinant protein vaccine formulations in healthy adults: interim results of a randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 1-2, dose-ranging study. Lancet Infect Dis.2021;21(9):1257-1270. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00147-X
