ATCC 100 Years Logo Anniversary ATCC 100 Years Logo Anniversary Cart 0
SearchLoading
  • Quick Order
  • Careers
  • Support
  • Quick Order

GAS-Luc2 Reporter Cancer Cell Lines Demonstrating Superior Performance to the Industrial Standard Interferon-gamma ELISA in 2-D and 3-D Ex Vivo Immune Activation and Drug Screening

Poster
Therapeutic antibody blocking PD-1

AACR Annual Meeting 2025

Chicago, Illinois, United States

April 29, 2025

Abstract

Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), a cytokine critical for activating cellular immunity and facilitating anti-tumor responses, has become a key cytokine for assessing the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy drugs. While enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is widely employed for the detection of IFN-γ, it has shown significant limitations in detecting low levels of IFN-γ during early-stage immune activation. Moreover, it presents serious challenges in accurately quantifying paracrine signaling of IFN-γ secreted by immune cells within 3-D co-culture models. To address the rapidly growing demand for more effective monitoring of immune activation for cancer immunotherapy research and better assessment of immunotherapy drug candidates, we developed immune activation reporter cancer cell lines engineered with a gamma-interferon activation site (GAS)-response element positioned upstream of a luciferase gene. Upon activation of the IFN-γ signaling pathway, these cells express luciferase, allowing for simple detection and quantification to measure immune activation. The cell lines were selected based on a comprehensive protein profiling to ensure endogenous expression of immune checkpoint ligands such as PD-L1, CD155, or B7-H3 for additional benefit in application in immune checkpoint research. To evaluate the system, the reporter cells were stimulated with varying concentrations of IFN-γ, treated with conditioned media from primary T cells, or co-cultured with IFN-γ-producing primary immune cells. Additionally, the reporter cells were co-cultured in 2-D or 3-D systems for the comparison with ELISA. Our data revealed that bioluminescence intensity from the reporter cells increased by approximately 100- to 250-fold in a dose-dependent manner following IFN-γ stimulation. Primary T cell–conditioned media simulated resulted in a 50- to 100-fold increase in bioluminescence intensity. Notably, in both 2-D and 3-D co-culture systems, the reporter cells generated a robust bioluminescent signal even at the IFN-γ concentrations below the detection range of conventional ELISA, highlighting their superior sensitivity and versatility. These reporter cell lines can serve as a valuable standard for early-stage monitoring of immune activation and offer a convenient and highly sensitive platform for evaluating cancer immunotherapy drug candidates.

Download the poster to learn about our immune activation reporter cancer cell lines.

Download

Presenter

Headshot of Hyeyoun Chang

Hyeyoun Chang, PhD

Scientist, ATCC

Hyeyoun Chang, PhD, is a Scientist in the Immuno-oncology group of the R&D department at ATCC. She has extensive experience in the fields of biomedical engineering and cancer biology that focuses on drug delivery, intracellular signaling, and gene therapy. Prior to joining ATCC, Dr. Chang received her PhD in biomedical engineering from Korea University of Science and Technology and completed her postdoctoral training at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/ Harvard Medical School. 

Therapeutic antibody blocking PD-1_iStock-1250270627.jpg

Immuno-oncology reporter models

Cancer immunotherapy has emerged as an exciting new approach for cancer treatment, and immuno-oncology is one of the fastest growing fields in oncology.

The development of immunomodulatory drugs and biologics dictates a clear need for human cell-based models to evaluate immune activation. To answer this need, ATCC provides a growing collection of reporter models, including checkpoint luciferase reporter cells, CAR-T luciferase reporter cells, and THP-1 reporter cells.

Explore immuno-oncology reporter models