HIMC - Human Immune Monitoring Center
The Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC) was created to perform assays that measure the status of the human immune system, so as to characterize the immune profile of health versus disease. Currently, clinical tests measuring the overall health of the immune system are practically non-existent [1]. The goal of the HIMC is to discover biomarkers that might fill this void, to aid in the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of therapies for diseases that involve the immune system. Our center can provide “one-stop-shopping” for a wide range of immunological tests for clinical trials, and is specifically designed for clinician investigators who might otherwise not have access to such technology. Goals of the HIMC include:
Box 1. Standard HIMC Assays:
- genome-wide RNA microarrays
- multiplex Luminex cytokine assays
- immunophenotyping by flow cytometry
- phosphoepitope flow cytometry
- To provide standardized, state-of-the art immune monitoring assays at the RNA, protein, and cellular level. These are assays that have already been validated in the HIMC, including those listed in Box 1.
- To test and develop new technologies for immune monitoring. Technologies currently under evaluation include those listed in Box 2.
- isoelectric focusing analysis of phosphoproteins (CellBiosciences)
- electrochemiluminescent cytokine detection (MesoScale Discovery)
- biomolecular interaction analysis (ForteBio)
- multiplexed tetramer analysis
- flow cytometry with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CyTof)
- qPCR arrays on sorted cell populations (Fluidigm BioMark).
- To efficiently archive, report, and mine data from immune monitoring studies, so as to increase the value of the data and to assist in biomarker discovery. The HIMC uses online database packages for collaborative archiving and analysis of particular kinds of data, and is evaluating methods for data aggregation across platforms, using tools such as Tibco SpotFire.
Box 2. Technologies Under Development:
To be useful in the context of biomarker discovery, immune monitoring needs to be both comprehensive and standardized. Comprehensive monitoring of the immune system implies analysis of factors that contribute to immunological protection. Even in diseases where a single facet of the immune system (e.g., cytotoxic T cells) is thought to be critical, other contributing or compensatory factors may be present within the remaining immunological systems. In such situations, non-comprehensive studies of one or a few facets of the immune system might never elucidate truly useful biomarkers, because of the underlying complexity. Also, many defects of the immune response are not readily observed in resting cells; a perturbation of the system (mitogen or cytokine signaling) is required to reveal the defect. Thus, comprehensive immune monitoring should include not only phenotyping of cell subsets, but also functional assays, such as phosphoepitope analysis and/or cytokine production.
Standardized immune monitoring assays are those that have been designed to minimize intra- and inter-assay variability, so that they can be sensitive to small changes that might characterize a disease state, and resistant to interference from irrelevant factors. The HIMC has standardized certain core assays, and constantly evaluates new technologies for development as standardized services.
The HIMC was developed in 2007 by the Institute for Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection (Mark Davis, Ph.D., Director), in conjunction with the Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford (C. Garrison Fathman, M.D., Founder). The HIMC is supported by a combination of service fees, institutional subsidies, private donors, and federal grants.
To achieve its goals, the HIMC also works in collaboration with other entities within Stanford, as shown in the figure at left.
We would welcome the opportunity to work with you on immune monitoring of your clinical trial.Support for the HIMC
The Institute of Immunity, Transplantation and Infection (ITI) proudly acknowledges the support of: The HEDCO Foundation, The Russell Foundation, The Sidney E. Frank Foundation, Becton, Dickinson and Co, and the Office of the Dean. The creation of the HIMC was made possible by their generous contributions.
To help further support this bold endeavor, please contact June Lang, Senior Director of Development, Stanford University Medical Center: Email jplange at stanford dot edu [jplang] or tel: (650) 234-0674
For more information contact:
Holden T. Maecker, PhD
Director, Human Immune Monitoring Center
CCSR Building 0125A
Phone: .650.723.1671
Email maecker at stanford dot edu [maecker]
ITI Internal