Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination (CRTEC)

CORE 010 – IMMUNOPHENOTYPING SHARED RESOURCE SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The mission of the Immunophenotyping Shared Resource (IPSR) is to advance immuno-oncological translational research projects by providing a rigorous platform to assess the immunological impact of anti-cancer therapy and deepen mechanistic understanding of cancer immunology. During the current project period there has been an explosion in our knowledge of host-tumor interactions and the mechanisms by which cancer cells evade host immune-surveillance. Fully a third of the clinical trials underway at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) include an immuno-oncology component. Immune tumor infiltrates, the immuno- microenvironment, and the patient immune state are rapidly becoming standard biomarkers for patient selection, yet most clinical investigators do not have wet laboratory capabilities to define the immunophenotype of the tumor or the host. As a result, there is a critical need for a centralized Shared Resource to coordinate and perform comprehensive analysis of the immune cell repertoire and state (“immunophenotyping”) from clinical trial and preclinical biospecimens. To meet this need, we developed a highly integrated platform to drive and manage comprehensive immunophenotyping by adding capabilities to the former Antibody Production Shared Resource (APSR), thus enabling deep immune analysis in the newly evolved IPSR. High-quality antibodies are necessary for immunophenotyping, so this transition leverages the existing expertise in multiple antibody technologies while broadening the scope of work to include immunophenotyping. The immune analyses will be conducted in collaboration with several existing VICC Shared Resources including the Flow Cytometry Shared Resource (FCSR) for analysis of peripheral blood and bone marrow samples and/or dissociated tumor samples; the Translational Pathology Shared Resource (TPSR) for multi-immunofluorescence analysis of solid tumor samples; and the Genomic Sciences Shared Resource (GSSR) for deep sequencing of neoepitopes and single cell RNAseq analysis. The IPSR staff work closely with clinical, basic and population sciences investigators to design experimental approach, and to rigorously interpret resulting data, thus providing these investigators a “one stop shop” for coordinating immunophenotyping. The IPSR is co-led by three established faculty members with a wealth of experience in performing highly complex immunological assays. Collectively, their extensive knowledge in immunologic assays, immuno-oncology, single cell biology, genomics, host-tumor interactions, and use of clinically derived biospecimens makes their expertise critical to the success of the Shared Resource. During the current project period IPSR collaborations included 274 laboratory projects with 161 unique investigators across seven VICC Research Programs that have been recognized by 40 publications.