Background Adoptive transfer of immune cells such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells has emerged as a targeted method of controlling the immune system against cancer. Despite their significant therapeutic potential, efficient methods to generate adequate numbers of NK cells are lacking and ex vivo-expansion and activation of NK cells is currently under intensive investigation. The primary purpose of this study was to develop an effective method for expansion and activation of the effector cells with high proportion of NK cells and increasing cytotoxicity against liver cancer in a short time period. Methods Expanded NK cell-enriched lymphocytes (NKL) designated as “MYJ1633” were prepared by using autologous human plasma, cytokines (IL-2, IL-12 and IL-18) and agonistic antibodies (CD16, CD56 and NKp46) without an NK cell-sorting step. The characteristics of NKL were compared to those of freshly isolated PBMCs. In addition, the cytotoxic effect of the NKL on liver cancer cell was examined in vitro and in vivo. Results The total cell number after ex vivo-expansion increased about 140-fold compared to that of freshly isolated PBMC within 2 weeks. Approximately 78% of the expanded and activated NKL using the house-developed protocol was NK cell and NKT cells even without a NK cell-sorting step. In addition, the expanded and activated NKL demonstrated potent cytotoxicity against liver cancer in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion The house-developed method can be a new and effective strategy to prepare clinically applicable NKL for autologous NK cell-based anti-tumor immunotherapy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-019-6034-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the aging period prior to freezing on the meat quality of Hanwoo longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle. Three different combinations of aging and freezing periods (0/90, 20/70, and 40/50) were examined using LD muscle at 24 h postmortem under an identical storage time of 90 d. The pH and lightness slightly increased with increasing aging period. However, there were no significant (p>0.05) differences in redness and yellowness. The solitary freezing treatment (0/90) had the significantly (p<0.05) lowest moisture content. The un-aged treatment had a significantly (p<0.05) higher total loss than the aged treatments due to an increase in thaw drip loss. The aging significantly improved the myofibrillar fragmentation index and shear force of Hanwoo LD muscle (p<0.05). In addition, the aged treatments produced a higher flavor, tenderness, juiciness, and overall acceptability relative to un-aged treatment. However, there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in shear force and sensorial properties between 20 and 40 d aging prior to freezing. Therefore, 20 d aging prior to freezing may be a sufficiently effective strategy to improve the tenderness and sensorial properties of Hanwoo LD muscle