Cytokines for Immune Cell Culture

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphoid cells that play a key role in the early response to infection or malignant transformation. NK cells have both cytotoxic activity and cytokine-secreting capabilities. Their cytotoxic activity enables NK cells to directly destroy target cells through the release of cytolytic granules, while their cytokine-secreting capabilities allow them to regulate downstream immune responses. NK cell activation is controlled by the integration of signals received from multiple cell surface receptors that deliver either activating or inhibitory signals. Under normal physiological conditions, NK cell activation is inhibited by ligands expressed on healthy cells that engage inhibitory receptors on NK cells. Detection of abnormalities in infected or cancerous cells, such as the down-regulation of MHC class I expression or the elevated expression of stress-induced ligands, leads to NK cell activation. NK cells make up
5-20% of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and a variety of cytokines, including IL-2, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, and IL-21, have been used for their in vitro expansion, differentiation, and activation.

Dendritic cells are professional antigen-presenting cells that promote CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell activation. They play a central role in innate and adaptive immune responses due to their abilities to recognize, phagocytose, and process antigens from invading pathogens, upregulate MHC molecules and co-stimulatory molecules, and travel to the secondary lymphoid organs to prime T cell activation. In addition, dendritic cells produce polarizing cytokines that direct the differentiation of pathogen-specific effector T cell subsets. Dendritic cells are present in the skin, mucosal surfaces, peripheral blood, and lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues, where they continuously sample the extracellular environment for foreign particles and differentially shape the immune response depending on the type of pathogen detected. Significantly, dendritic cells also play a key role in promoting immune homeostasis by continually presenting T cells with self-antigens to promote self-tolerance and secreting tolerogenic cytokines that induce regulatory T cell differentiation. Dendritic cells can be isolated from human blood mononuclear cells or differentiated from CD14⁺ monocytes or embryonic stem cells. Common cytokines used for differentiating monocyte-derived dendritic cells include GM-CSF and IL-4. Additional cytokines, such as TNF-α are used to drive dendritic cell maturation.

B cells are essential components of the adaptive immune response due to their ability to produce antibodies against foreign antigens and generate immunological memory. Additionally, B cells can function as antigen-presenting cells and secrete immunomodulatory cytokines that regulate the activities of other immune cell types and lymphoid tissue organization. B cells represent 5-10% of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in humans and are commonly enriched for using magnetic bead-based negative selection, or CD19⁺ positive selection. B cells can be further expanded in vitro in the presence of IL-4, CD40 Ligand, or anti-CD40. Additional cytokines can be used to promote B cell differentiation, antibody production, or enhance the production of specific antibody isotypes such as IgA, IgG, IgE, or IgM.

Benefits of R&D Systems Proteins for Immune Cell Culture

• High Bioactivity and Performance: Utilizing over 900 different bioassays, the biological activity of every protein we offer is tested in an appropriate bioassay to confirm that it meets our strict QC activity parameters.
• Lot-to-Lot Consistency: Minimal lot-to-lot variability is ensured by testing each new lot side-by-side with previous lots, so you don’t have to worry whether results will be reproducible over time.
• High Purity and Low Endotoxin Levels: Our proteins are typically over 95% pure and have a guaranteed industry-leading endotoxin level of 0.1 EU/ug by the LAL method.
• Seamless Transition from Preclinical Research to Clinical Manufacturing: Our Animal-free RUO and GMP-grade proteins originate from the same clone, sequence, and expression system to make the transition from preclinical research into clinical manufacturing as seamless as possible.
• Supply Chain Reliability: We have the capacity and the experience to ensure that we can provide a stable supply of the proteins needed for your research.
• Bulk Proteins at Discounted Prices: Unlock competitive discounts on bulk protein orders of 1 mg or more with our tiered pricing model. The more protein you need, the more you save.

ExCellerate™ Media for Immune Cell Culture

Provides an optimized serum-free culture environment for the generation and expansion of individual immune cell types.

Animal-free Recombinant Proteins

Provides a seamless transition from preclinical research into clinical manufacturing, ensures defined culture conditions, and eliminates regulatory or ethical concerns associated with animal-derived reagents. Our Animal-free proteins are produced using identical expression systems and manufacturing methods as our Animal-free GMP-grade proteins.

GMP Proteins

Manufactured under guidelines that allow for their use as ancillary materials in cell therapy manufacturing processes. These proteins undergo extensive quality control testing and come with comprehensive documentation and full transparency and traceability of source and manufacturing system. Liquid, process-sized, and closed process options are also available for GMP cytokines. Learn more.

Cell Expansion and Differentiation Kits

Optimized reagents for the differentiation and expansion of leukocyte populations in culture.

Isolation Kits

Positive and negative cell selection kits to isolate immune cells for cell culture.

Cell Proliferation and Viability Assays

Reagents for studying cell proliferation, viability, and cytotoxicity including fluorescent reporter dyes and MTT assays.