Korea University Research and Business Foundation

Ajou University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation

Nkmax Co., Ltd.

Seon Ah Lim

Kyung-Mi Lee

Yong Sung Kim

Ye Jin Kim

Cassian Yee

Jeongwon Sohn

Kyung Mi Lee

Jang-Mi Lim

The present invention relates to an expansion culture method for natural killer cells and, more particularly, to an expansion culture method for natural killer cells, wherein the cultured natural killer cells are treated with an HDAC inhibitor. According to the present invention, when natural killer cells are subjected to in vitro expansion culture, the cells can be restrained from undergoing cell death, resulting in a remarkable improvement in the viability and production yield of the cells. Thus, natural killer cells, which are needed for cell therapy, such as cancer therapy, etc., can be obtained effectively.

Expansion culture method for human-derived natural killer cells by using HDAC inhibitor

A heterodimeric Fc-fused protein and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the heterodimeric Fc-fused protein are disclosed. The heterodimeric Fc-fused protein includes first and second Fc regions of an immunoglobulin heavy chain constant region (Fc) pair and in which IL-21 is bound to at least one of the N-terminus or the C-terminus of the first Fc region and/or the second Fc region, wherein CH3 domains of the first Fc region and the second Fc region are mutated such that the formation of a heterodimer is promoted. When the heterodimeric Fc-fused protein is used, an in vivo half-life of IL-21 included in the heterodimeric Fc-fused protein may be significantly increased.

IL-21 (heterodimeric Fc-fused IL-21) fused to immunoglobulin heavy chain constant region heterodimer (heterodimeric Fc), and pharmaceutical composition comprising same

Provided are a method of ex-vivo culture of natural killer (NK) cells by treating the cells with a reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitor and/or a p53 protein inhibitor; and a composition comprising the cultured NK cells. By reducing the activity of ROS and p53 proteins during ex-vivo culture, NK cells may have achieved greater expansion efficiency without altering their anti-tumor cytotoxicity.

Method of expanding NK cell and composition for culturing

A heterodimeric Fc-fused protein and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the heterodimeric Fc-fused protein are disclosed. The heterodimeric Fc-fused protein comprises first and second Fc regions of an immunoglobulin heavy chain constant region (Fc) pair and in which IL-21 is bound to at least one of the N-terminus or the C-terminus of the first Fc region and/or the second Fc region, wherein CH3 domains of the first Fc region and the second Fc region are mutated such that the formation of a heterodimer is promoted. When the heterodimeric Fc-fused protein according to the present invention is used, an in vivo half-life of IL-21 included in the heterodimeric Fc-fused protein may be significantly increased.

The present invention relates to a method for inducing and expanding natural killer cells derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which comprises co-culturing, as feeder cells, irradiated Jurkat cells and irradiated Epstein-Barr virus transformed lymphocyte continuous line (EBV-LCL) cells in the presence of cytokines, along with peripheral blood mononuclear cells. According to the present invention, a large quantity of natural killer cells can be induced and proliferated from a small quantity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells even without the use of high-cost equipment or various kinds of expensive cytokines, thereby making it possible to significantly improve the efficiency and efficacy of the prevention and treatment of cancer using the natural killer cells.

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Seoul, South Korea

Seon Ah Lim