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Article History

Received: 20 February 2019

Accepted: 9 September 2019

First Online: 17 October 2019

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: Human specimens used in some experiments described in our ms are PBMCs from healthy donors. Multiple stocks of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from a large number of healthy donors (<i>n</i> > 20), have been stored in liquid nitrogen in our laboratory. The PBMCs have been purified from buffy coats obtained from the Transfusion Center of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” as waste material resulting from the procedures of plasma/platelet/red blood isolation from whole blood of healthy donors. They were volunteers and consented for their donated blood to be used for research. In line with the Italian law on this matter (Legislative Decree of the Italian Ministry of Health of January 25, 2001, published on the Official Gazette of April 3, 2001) donor ages ranged between 21 and 60 years for women and 21–65 years for men. There have been no restrictions for blood donors as to sex and ethnic background, except for children, mentally disabled individuals and pregnant women. All donors were healthy, non-medicated consulting adults, and were prescreened for exposure to infectious agents. Blood was obtained by venipuncture following standard medical procedures using sterile technique and a compression bandage in the area of blood removal. A record of the donor and hematocrit result is stored on file at the Transfusion Center. Research investigators do not have any access to personal data or other information concerning the donors in agreement with the Italian law Number 675 of December 31, 1996.

: Not applicable.

: Alessandro Ascione (AA), Michela Flego (MFL), Alessandra Mallano (AM), Stefano Vella (SV) and Maurizio Federico (MFE) are co-inventors of a patent recently filed, regarding the human monoclonal antibody against LAG3 described in the present manuscript (Date of patent filing: 12/07/2019. Title: Human recombinant antibody against LAG3 membrane receptor, medical and diagnostic uses thereof).Apart from that the authors declare that they have no competing interests.