Profiling of the intratumoral immune response in slices of human tumors treated ex vivo
What do we do ?
We modelize tumor–immune interactions using ex vivo cultures of fresh human tumor slices treated with immunotherapies or immunomodulating drugs. It combines multiparametric flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing, cytokine profiling, and multiplex immunofluorescence to assess intratumor immune responses and spatial organization, supporting translational research on mechanisms of response and resistance to therapy.
Scientific lead
Dr Nathalie Bendriss-Vermare is Research Director (DR2) at INSERM and leads an immuno-oncology research team at the Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL). She has extensive expertise in tumor immunology, spanning both fundamental and translational research, as demonstrated by more than 50 publications in this field.
Her work focuses on the characterization of the innate immune microenvironment within tumors, with the aim of improving understanding of the mechanisms that regulate immune surveillance and tumor immune escape. She is particularly interested in the role of Natural Killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells in antitumor immunity. Her research relies mainly on the analysis of human biological samples and the use of cutting-edge technologies, including multiplex spectral immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and transcriptomics, with the objective to identify novel targets for the development of innovative cancer immunotherapy strategies.
With more than 25 years of experience and recognized expertise in tumor microenvironment analysis, she coordinates research on ex vivo cultures of human tumor sections.
Contact : nathalie.bendriss-vermare@lyon.unicancer.fr
Techniques
- Generation of Precision-cut tumor tissue slices (PCTS / 250µm)
- Development of protocols for ex vivo culture of fresh tumor samples
- Testing of immunomodulatory drugs
- Development and analysis of high-dimensional spectral flow cytometry panels (>25 colors)
- Spatial analysis of immune cell populations and signaling pathways in situ by multiplex immunofluorescence
- Implementation of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology from PCTS
- Analysis of the secretome by ELISA/ECLIA/MSD assays
Team members
- Nathalie Bendriss-Vermare, PhD, HDR, DR2 INSERM
- Mathilde Persch, Engineer