NK Cell Culture Selection and Expansion from PBMC - (Jan/23/2015 )

Our lab is currently purchasing patented media from Korea for human and canine NK cell culture. The media selects for NK cells from PBMC as well as expands the population. Our Korean/Japan counterpart uses their culture for immune therapy. The cultures will grow and cell numbers/clusters continue increasing until the 14th day (for humans) and 22th day (for canine). 

Due to cost constraints, I'd like to know if it would be cheaper to make my own mixture for the media instead. I've searched for it in several places and most people appear to be using patented media from Cellgenix, Lonza and other brands. I've looked at some suggestions regarding RPMI-1640 + 10% FBS + non-essential amino acids and IL-2 for stimulation but for most of the links I could find, the cultures only expand up to the 7th-10th day. Can someone help me? What is the best way for me to culture for trials of immune therapy excluding the patented products?

You could check the patents to see what additional components are added to make a difference. http://lens.org specializes in organizing biological patent literature and has relatively up to date information. The danger is that you may violate one of these patents (if that is an issue). Of course, you can violate them without reading them, so ignorance is not a defense. Patent numbers may be listed in product information, but is often not.

A good suggestion by phage. Although, I don't think there is any danger of patent violation (see some lectures here), unless Lynn wants to sell/share the resultant media.