Generation of dendritic cells for immunotherapy is minimally impaired by granulocytes in the monocyte preparation

The growing number of clinical studies, using monocyte-derived DC therapy, requires protocols where a sufficient number of dendritic cell (DCs) are produced according to current Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines. Therefore, a closed culture system for the generation of DCs is inevitable. One cost-effective way to isolate monocytes directly from leukapheresis material in a closed system is by elutriation with the Elutra cell separation system. In the Elutra, granulocytes co-purify with the monocytes. Therefore, we studied if and to what extent the presence of granulocytes in a monocyte product affects the generation of mature DCs. The presence of up to 16% granulocytes in the monocyte product had no significant effects on the quality of the DCs formed. The presence of higher granulocyte percentages, however, gradually altered DC quality. In this respect, the presence of higher number of granulocytes induced significant lower migratory capacity of the DCs and lower expression levels of CD80, CD40 and CD86. No effects were observed on the DC yield, cytokine production or the stimulatory capacity of the DCs in MLR. In conclusion, the presence of 20-30% granulocytes in a monocyte product has no major influence on the quality of the DCs generated from monocytes. Therefore, the Elutra is a suitable closed system apparatus to separate monocytes from other blood components for the generation of DCs, even from leukapheresis material which contains a high number of granulocytes