2. Academic Validation
  3. Use of polyvinyl alcohol for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell expansion

Use of polyvinyl alcohol for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell expansion

  • Exp Hematol. 2019 Dec:80:16-20. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2019.11.007.
Toshinobu Nishimura 1,  Ian Hsu 1,  Daniel C Martinez-Krams 2,  Yusuke Nakauchi 2,  Ravindra Majeti 2,  Satoshi Yamazaki 3,  Hiromitsu Nakauchi 4,  Adam C Wilkinson 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
  • 2 Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; Department of Hematology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
  • 3 Division of Stem Cell Biology, Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
  • 4 Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; Division of Stem Cell Therapy, Distinguished Professor Unit, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: nakauchi@stanford.edu.
  • 5 Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA. Electronic address: adamcw@stanford.edu.
PMID: 31874780 DOI: 10.1016/j.exphem.2019.11.007
Abstract

Serum albumin has long been an essential supplement for ex vivo hematopoietic and immune cell cultures. However, serum albumin medium supplements represent a major source of biological contamination in cell cultures and often cause loss of cellular function. As serum albumin exhibits significant batch-to-batch variability, it has also been blamed for causing major issues in experimental reproducibility. We recently discovered the synthetic polymer polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as an inexpensive, Good Manufacturing Practice-compatible, and biologically inert serum albumin replacement for ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell cultures. Importantly, PVA is free of the biological contaminants that have plagued serum albumin-based media. Here, we describe that PVA can replace serum albumin in a range of blood and immune cell cultures including cell lines, primary leukemia samples, and human T lymphocytes. PVA can even replace human serum in the generation and expansion of functional chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, offering a potentially safer and more cost-efficient approach for this clinical cell therapy. In summary, PVA represents a chemically defined, biologically inert, and inexpensive alternative to serum albumin for a range of cell cultures in hematology and immunology.

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