Scalable in-vitro immunostimulation of human blood for in-depth profiling of acute immune response effects

In-vitro immune stimulation of whole blood has great analytic potential for exploring the immune system function. However, logistical and biological constraints might limit the extent to which such investigations can be performed. Flexible and often even low-tech mobile applicability can increase the diversity of conditions that can be investigated. To this end, we developed and optimized a medium that enables prolonged in-vitro stimulation and enables highly functional immune responses within 24 hours of incubation. In addition, we also developed and optimized a low-tech water-based mobile incubator to enable logistical flexibility. Finally, we describe the implementation of both systems using a practical example of sample collection at a sampling site with no access to laboratory equipment outside of a research lab.