Three-dimensional cell culture of chimeric antigen receptor T cells originated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells towards cellular therapies.

BACKGROUND AIMS:With the objective of improving the ex vivo production of therapeutic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, we explored the addition of three-dimensional (3D) polystyrene scaffolds to standard suspension cell cultures. METHODS:We aimed to mimic the structural support given by the lymph nodes during in vivo lymphocyte expansion. RESULTS:We observed an increase in cell proliferation compared with standard suspension systems as well as an enhanced cytotoxicity toward cancer cells. Moreover, we directly obtained the CAR T cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, thus minimizing the ex vivo manipulation of the therapeutic cells and opening the way to synergies among different cell populations. CONCLUSIONS:We propose the use of commercially available 3D polystyrene systems to improve the current immune cell cultures and resulting cell products for emerging cellular (immuno)therapies.