An Assay for Analyzing Test β-Glucan as an Immunotherapy Strategy against Brain Cancer Cells

Take a multi-well chamber slide containing microglia monolayers.

In the test well, coat the cells with β-glucan. The control well lacks β-glucan. Incubate.

In the test well, β-glucans, pathogen-associated molecular patterns, bind to specific receptors on microglia, causing β-glucan phagocytosis.

This activates the microglia, producing and releasing bioactive molecules such as reactive oxidants and cytokines into the media.

Collect the media containing bioactive molecules from the wells and filter them to remove debris and β-glucan.

Freeze the media at low temperatures to preserve the biological activity of the bioactive molecules.

Next, thaw and add the media to a multi-well chamber slide containing monolayers of brain cancer cells. Incubate.

The bioactive molecules trigger cell signaling pathways, reducing cancer cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis.

Reduced cancer cell proliferation and increased apoptosis suggest β-glucans as agents promoting anti-tumoral properties of microglia against brain cancer cells.