- Evaluate your small molecule, biologic, or formulation excipients for its potential to bind or activate primary cells from multiple species (human, non-human primate, rodent)
- We routinely perform immunophenotyping of in vitro or in vivo (safety, PD, xenograft, or clinical studies) treated samples (cell lines or primary cells) for specific protein target expression on cell subsets or biomarker detection indicative of bioactivity (cell surface activation markers, cytokine detection)
- Personalized experimental design to ensure the most biologically relevant data is obtained
- These assays are applicable to multiple species (human, non-human primates, & rodents) for cross-reactivity assessment of your molecules
- All assays are performed with high-quality reagents and strict controls by experienced immunologists

Service Overview
About Immune Monitoring
There has been a recent emphasis on the development of therapeutics that modulate the immune system to treat oncology indications. Unfortunately, one of the major obstacles to effective cancer immune therapy is the lack of available immune monitoring (World Immunotherapy Council Recommendations, Journal of Translational Medicine 2011). There is currently no consensus on what immune tests should be ordered to monitor treatment and response (ISBTc-SITC/FDA/NCI Workshop Clinical Cancer Research 2011).
At iQ Biosciences, we believe that immune monitoring must be personalized to the type of therapy given. Therefore, we can provide these services by offering a variety of assays to characterize the immune status and makeup of patients receiving immune modulatory therapeutics. With our experienced immunologists, we aim to provide tailored consultation to help identify the best immunologic assays for your clinical trial based on a detailed consultation.
Immune Monitoring with iQ Biosciences
The assays we offer include:
- Characterization of normal cell populations (B/T cells, NK cells, macrophages, etc.) and rare populations (Foxp3 Tregs, iNKT, DCs, etc.) by flow cytometry
- Characterization of the activation status of immune populations based on surface markers or intracellular cytokine staining by flow cytometry
- Characterization of soluble molecules, such as cytokines and antibodies, by cytometric bead assays or ELISA
- Characterization of antigen specific cells
- Cytotoxic capabilities of immune cells (please also see our pages on ADCC and CDC assays)
As an example of our services, we can provide flow cytometric analysis of immune cell types from peripheral blood cells, as well as measure cytokines in peripheral blood plasma from a single 10-milliliter sample. In addition, we have standard panels of markers dedicated to elucidating activation status of various immune cells (see table below). However, we can design custom panels of markers specific for your studies.
Cell Type | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
T cell | Treg cell | B cell | DC/mono/NK cells | Th1/2/17 cells | |
Markers | CD3 CD4 CD8 CD38 CD45RA CCR7 HLA-DR | CD3 CD4 CD25 CD45RO CD127 CCR4 HLA-DR | CD3 CD19 CD20 CD24 CD27 CD38 IgD | CD3 CD11c CD14 CD16 CD19 CD20 CD56 CD123 HLA-DR | CD3 CD4 CD8 CD38 CCR6 CXCR3 HLA-DR |
Table 1: iQ Bioscience’s standard panel of markers for phenotypical analysis of immune cells.
After data collection for any of the assays, our experts will analyze the data and provide a summary of the findings. If needed, we can provide the primary LIS mode files for you to assemble dot plots for publications / presentations. We can also make recommendations for future studies.
Our team at iQ Biosciences has numerous years of experience with immunology and we believe that working with you every step of the way ensures an optimal experimental design to answer your scientific questions. Given the current trend towards immune-modulating molecules, we will provide personalized service and expertise to help you accomplish your goals.