A doctor, a graduate, and students from Tec de Monterrey’s Toluca campus are developing research focused on optimizing NK cell cultures, an immunotherapy alternative to attack diseased cells in the body.
NK cells, or Natural Killer cells, have potential applications in personalized medicine.
The Tec Toluca team is looking for more accessible ways to develop or grow NK cells, a type of immune system cellcapable of finding and destroying tumor cells.
This team is made up of Dr. Víctor Campos, graduate student Daniela Simental, and students Ivana López and Carlos Peralta.
“The project stems from the need to find alternatives that make innovative treatments accessible to more people.
“Our goal is to simplify certain processes without compromising cell quality,” Ivana explained.
“We want to find alternatives that make innovative treatments accessible to more people.”
Prior to this phase, the team worked on a major challenge in the field: achieving efficient NK cell proliferation in the laboratory.
As part of those studies, they assessed different culture conditions and found it possible to substitute fetal bovine serum, a conventional animal-derived reagent, with patient-derived autologous human plasma.
A cheaper, simpler process
The results demonstrated that this modification was not only viable but also enhanced cell proliferation and mitigated risks associated with animal-derived components.
“Previous findings allowed us to ask new questions. Since we had already enhanced cell proliferation, we wanted to know if we could also simplify the process to make it both more affordable and easier to implement,” said the student.
To answer this question, the team ran experiments using blood samples, isolating the cells needed for cultivation under different conditions.
During the study, they analyzed the role of elements such as autologous plasma and EDTA(ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), a chemical commonly used during cell extraction.
The findings indicated that, while plasma promotes faster proliferation during the initial stages, it is not essential for proper NK cell development.
They also observed that eliminating EDTA yields a greater quantity of cells without compromising their viability or structure.
“We found that we can simplify the protocol while maintaining the quality of the culture. This could make it easier to replicate in laboratories with more basic infrastructure,” Ivana said.
According to the student, subsequent steps will focus on confirming that cells cultured under these new conditions retain their ability to recognize and combat diseases, a critical requirement for future clinical application.
The results to date suggest that developing simpler, more cost-effective cell-culture processes is possible, which could expand research and development opportunities in personalized medicine.
“Subsequent phases will aim to confirm that the cells retain their therapeutic function. That will be an important step in evaluating their potential for clinical applications,” she concluded.
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