A New Bioassay Platform Design for the Discovery of Small Molecules with Anticancer Immunotherapeutic Activity

Immunotherapy takes advantage of the immune system to prevent, control, and eliminateneoplastic cells. The research in the field has already led to major breakthroughs to treat cancer. Inthis work, we describe a platform that integrates in vitro bioassays to test the immune response anddirect antitumor effects for the preclinical discovery of anticancer candidates. The platform relies onthe use of dendritic cells that are professional antigen-presenting cells (APC) able to activate T cellsand trigger a primary adaptive immune response. The experimental procedure is based on twophenotypic assays for the selection of chemical leads by both a panel of nine tumor cell lines andgrowth factor-dependent immature mouse dendritic cells (D1). The positive hits are then validatedby a secondary test on human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). The aim of this approachis the selection of potential immunotherapeutic small molecules from natural extracts or chemicallibraries.